Greece Rugby League Association will not be backing down, after a peaceful protest to their government last week regarding a block against them playing a World Cup Qualifier on home soil.
Lead by president George Stilianos, the GRLA assembled outside the Greece Minister of Sports in Athens last Tuesday to lobby against government minister Tasos Pantazidis’ decision to prevent them from playing a crucial qualifier against Scotland in Athens.
The political struggles come due to the fact that the Hellenic Rugby League Federation, lead by Pantazidis, are the official federation under Greek law, but the GRLA are officially recognised by the RLIF and RLEF.
With the current regime hindering the possibility of Greece playing at their first ever Rugby League World Cup, Stilianos said the protest is only the beginning, if the country’s government does not lift the regulations in place.
“There are national elections due for 7th of July, so we will do everything we can to press our issue, especially with the two major parties,” he told League Express. “We are a small but growing community that cannot be ignored any longer.
“I am hoping it will make the key people in government wake up and make a common sense decision on this. We’ve already attracted a lot of media attention, because of how bizarre our situation is. We will continue pushing this until it is resolved.”