The
Rugby League European Federation (RLEF) is the
umbrella bodyAn umbrella organization is an association of institutions, who work together formally to coordinate activities or pool resources. In business, political, or other environments, one group, the umbrella organization, provides resources and often an identity to the smaller organizations...
for nations playing the sport of rugby league football across
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and the
Northern HemisphereThe Northern Hemisphere is the half of a planet that is north of its equator—the word hemisphere literally means “half sphere”. It is also that half of the celestial sphere north of the celestial equator...
. It supports the
Rugby League International FederationThe Rugby League International Federation is the world governing body of rugby league football. It was formed in 1998 in Sydney, Australia. Its purpose is to, "foster, develop, extend, govern and administer the game of Rugby League throughout the world". Its headquarters are in Sydney, Australia,...
(RLIF). The RLEF "oversees and co-ordinates the development of the sport in all its member countries and those neighbouring organisations that choose to link to the RLEF". The RLEF operates several competitions, most notably the European Cup.
History
The federation was founded January 2003 following an initiative between
Richard LewisRichard Lewis is a former British Davis Cup tennis professional from Surrey.Lewis became executive chairman of the Rugby Football League in 2002. On 1 April 2009 he replaced Michael Farrar as chairman of Sport England.-Tennis career:...
, Executive Chairman of
BritainThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
's
Rugby Football LeagueThe Rugby Football League is the governing body for professional rugby league football in England. Based at Red Hall in Leeds, it administers the England national rugby league team, the Challenge Cup, Super League and the Rugby League Championships...
(RFL) and his
FrenchThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
counterpart Jean Paul Ferre. The RLEF's first constitution was approved in January 2004 and the federation's first Board of Directors was elected. This first Board of Directors consisted of Jean Paul Ferre as President/Chairman and Richard Lewis as Deputy Chairman with Nigel Wood and Nicolas Larrat being the other Board members. Representatives for Morocco, Italy, Serbia, Russia, Lebanon, Ireland, Scotland and Wales attended. Russia became a full member of the RLEF, joining Britain and France, and the RLIF soon after.
At the time of its foundation, the RLEF placed a "particular emphasis on generating development funding within each country". Historically, much of the development work conducted in Europe had been funded by the RFL. Following the profitable
2008 World CupThe 2008 Rugby League World Cup was the thirteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup since the inauguration of the tournament in 1954, and the first since the 2000 event...
, the RFL and RLEF prepared to bid for funds to enhance their activities.
In December 2009, Kevin Rudd, a former Scotland rugby league international, stepped down as Executive Officer of the RLEF after more than five years in the post. RLEF Chairman Richard Lewis stated that Rudd "has done an outstanding job and created a platform, structure and competitions framework that can take us into the future". Rudd was succeeded by Danny Kazandjian. Kazandjian had previously been a key figure in the establishment of rugby league in Lebanon and had led the RLEF's development drive in the Mediterranean and Middle East regions as Director of Development for the Euro-Med region.
RLEF board
- Chairperson: Richard Lewis
Richard Lewis is a former British Davis Cup tennis professional from Surrey.Lewis became executive chairman of the Rugby Football League in 2002. On 1 April 2009 he replaced Michael Farrar as chairman of Sport England.-Tennis career:...
(BritainThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
)
- Vice Chairperson: Nicolas Larrat (France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
)
- Gary Tasker (Britain
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
)
- Jean Alain Rives (France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
)
Membership
Currently three nations are full members of the federation; the remainder are associate members. Full members are entitled to a greater proportion of voting rights and to become members of the
Rugby League International FederationThe Rugby League International Federation is the world governing body of rugby league football. It was formed in 1998 in Sydney, Australia. Its purpose is to, "foster, develop, extend, govern and administer the game of Rugby League throughout the world". Its headquarters are in Sydney, Australia,...
.
In order to become an associate member, a nation must meet the following criteria:
- Implementation of a constitution
A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...
and rules that commit the governing body to acting in the best interest of rugby league, throughout the whole of their country.
- Production of an annual financial report.
- Running a league
League is a term commonly used to describe a group of sports teams or individual athletes that compete against each other in a specific sport. At its simplest, it may be a local group of amateur athletes who form teams among themselves and compete on weekends; at its most complex, it can be an...
competition with at least four teams.
- Implementation of a junior development programme.
- The production of a Business Development
A subset of the field of commerce, business development comprises a number of techniques and responsibilities which aim at:1. Researching new types of business/products/services with an emphasis on identifying gaps in the mitigation of needs of potential clients .2. Attracting new customers3...
Plan outlining an organisation's future aims, including aims to find part funding for staff positions.
- A communications strategy.
- An administrators, match officials and coach education strategy.
The RLEF stipulates that continued associate and full membership of the federation is subject to a check every two years to ensure that the minimum criteria are still being met.
Full members
Rugby Football LeagueThe Rugby Football League is the governing body for professional rugby league football in England. Based at Red Hall in Leeds, it administers the England national rugby league team, the Challenge Cup, Super League and the Rugby League Championships...
, representing
EnglandRugby league football is a team sport in England. The sport receives funding from Sport England as an "English priority" sport. The top-level competition in England—called Super League—is not an entirely all-English affair, as it includes a team from France, and also featured a team from Wales from...
and
Great BritainThe Great Britain national rugby league team represents the United Kingdom in rugby league football. Administered by the Rugby Football League , the team is nicknamed "The Lions" or "Great Britain Lions"....
Fédération Française de Rugby à XIIIThe French Rugby League Federation is the governing body for the sport of rugby league football in France. The Federation was formed during 1934 and since then has organized and governed the French rugby league championship, the Lord Derby Cup and all of the clubs that are contained within those...
Rugby League IrelandRugby League Ireland is the internationally recognised governing body for the development of rugby league football in Ireland, having secured official recognition from the RLIF in 2000...
Scotland Rugby LeagueThe Scottish Rugby Football League is the governing body for rugby league football in Scotland. It administers the Scotland national rugby league teams jointly with the Rugby Football League....
Wales Rugby LeagueWales Rugby League is the national governing body for rugby league football in Wales.In 1907 The Welsh Northern Rugby Football Union was formed in Wrexham, but the English Northern Rugby Football Union refused it affiliation as they wanted the body located in the south of Wales and the Welsh body...
Lebanese Rugby League FederationThe Lebanese Rugby League Federation is the governing body for rugby league football in Lebanon. They are associate members of the Rugby League European Federation and full members of the Rugby League International Federation....
Serbian Rugby League
Associate members
Czech Rugby League Association Rugby League Deutschland Federazione Italiana Rugby League Jamaica Rugby League Association Norway Rugby League Russian Rugby League Ukrainian Federation of Rugby League
Official observers
Canada Rugby LeagueCanada Rugby League is the governing body for the sport of rugby league football in Canada. Founded in 2010, the CRL organizes the Canada national rugby league team and is establishing a domestic competition.-History:...
Denmark Rugby League Estonia Rugby League Federation Greek Rugby League Latvian Rugby League Maltese Rugby League Association Maroc Rugby League
Unranked
Belgium Rugby LeagueBelgium Rugby League was founded in 2009. In "Rugby League World" magazine [Edition 346 February 2010] Belgium are ranked 28th [of 41] in the world.In 2009 Belgium played twice, winning one and losing the other....
Associació Catalana de Rugby LligaThe Associació Catalana de Rugby Lliga is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in Catalonia. The Association was formed in 2007 and since then has organized and governed the Catalan competitions...
Portuguese Rugby League Association Sweden Rugby League
Emirates Rugby LeagueEmirates Rugby League is the governing body for rugby league in the United Arab Emirates.Operating under the auspices of the Rugby League European Federation’s Euro Med Department, the ERL governs rugby league at all levels in the UAE, from the national team to the development of school and youth...
Official RLEF Seedings
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Unranked with Official observer status
See also
- Rugby League International Federation
The Rugby League International Federation is the world governing body of rugby league football. It was formed in 1998 in Sydney, Australia. Its purpose is to, "foster, develop, extend, govern and administer the game of Rugby League throughout the world". Its headquarters are in Sydney, Australia,...
- European Cup
The European Cup is a rugby league football tournament for European nations that was first held in 1935. The tournament was first started in 1935, with England, Wales and France each playing each other once...
- European Shield
- European Bowl
- RLEF Euro Med Challenge
-Standings:-2009:In 2009, the RLEF announced that Russia, Lebanon and Serbia would be promoted to a revamped European Nations Cup. The Euro-Med Challenge was therefore contested by three new teams in 2009 - Belgium and Catalonia, who made their competitive debuts, and Morocco...
External links