The Rugby Football League has said that is it disappointed that its funding has been cut.
Sport England has set aside £17.5m for rugby league over the next four years, a reduction of £10.1m.
Chief executive Nigel Wood said: "Naturally we are disappointed that Rugby League has not been able to maintain the previous level of funding.
"We will now be looking carefully at the award details of the new Whole Sport plan to see how we take our important community and talent development work forward with the support of Sport England."
Director of participation David Gent added: "We remain committed to developing Rugby League across the country. The focus of the new plan 2013-2017 will be on retention of current players, but we also have a growth target."
Sport England is investing a total of £493m across a range of sports over the next four years.
