Report: 2025 World Cup on verge of collapse

[N2022]

8 minutes ago, LlanWests said:

Uh? Many in Australia want to see the 'Roos play against Eng.

They might want to see us get beaten over there, but I can't imagine they are excited about staying up / getting up at silly o'clock to see a game in England. And are NRL clubs really keen enough on international game to make whatever adjustments are needed to season to accommodate Aus trekking up here, even every 4 years?  

[EastLondonMike]

Fox League Insta suggesting Aus could host in 2025

[EastLondonMike]

[Damien]

2 minutes ago, EastLondonMike said:

Fox League Insta suggesting Aus could host in 2025

Some past World Cups have only been awarded 2 years before and the infrastructure is already there in the Southern hemisphere. I'm not really sure how much difference 2026 v 2025 makes and if a delay is really needed.

[doc]

So, 2029/30 in England?

[corkonian77]

Bleak day. 

France will go to Australia and get their usual ritual humilation. 

The likes of Ireland will have their games shown at 9 Am in the moring on a Friday or Saturday. 

The only winners today are the Pacific Islanders teams.

[The Hallucinating Goose]

It's really disappointing that France won't be hosting it. I was really looking forward to a trip over there for a few games.

I won't be too bothered if it is in Australia again though with the rise of the Pacific nations and the fanbases they can bring to the tournament. It could only make them stronger to have huge fanbases in the grounds supporting them and being based at home instead of travelling right round the world. 

With Tonga coming over here this year and a lot of talk of Samoa coming in 2024, that will give them some great preparation for what would essentially be a home tournament for them and make them genuine contenders for the title. 

[Pie tries]

1 hour ago, Madrileño said:

Nonsense.

Every time there is a thread about League in France on here, we find some old duffer droning on about 'Vichy'.

10 posts about it since the start of April alone. 

Newsflash: Nobody Cares!

You care - you keep mentioning it. Why do you post on here? You are obnoxious 

[Zilla Budgie]

No 'pointing fingers' just that today is a sad day for Rugby League in France, and RL in general.

[EggFace]

29 minutes ago, corkonian77 said:

Bleak day. 

France will go to Australia and get their usual ritual humilation. 

The likes of Ireland will have their games shown at 9 Am in the moring on a Friday or Saturday. 

The only winners today are the Pacific Islanders teams.

I wonder if any World Cup games will be played in Fiji, Tonga, Samoa and PNG ?

[eal]

Awarding the tournament to France was madness to begin with. The game in France has minimal presence, no money, and only dreams of mere survival.

Hopefully the 2025 tournament is awarded to Australia/NZ and a format is devised that actually means Australia, New Zealand, and England are guaranteed of meeting at some point in the tournament. For all the hype around the 2022 tournament, it was a great disappointment that England never played either.

[Llangennech]

If you insist on having a WC tournament, then have 8 teams, Group A, Australia, England, Fiji and France, Group B, NZ, Tonga, Samoa and PNG. Top 2 go into semi-finals. 

[Jparrish]

19 minutes ago, LlanWests said:

If you insist on having a WC tournament, then have 8 teams, Group A, Australia, England, Fiji and France, Group B, NZ, Tonga, Samoa and PNG. Top 2 go into semi-finals. 

Yeah if France was to have gone ahead but needed to be  "scaled down" I'd of been happy with this format much more realistic and financially viable. But if Australia go ahead and host we should persevere with 16 teams (whatever format) 

[Madrileño]

34 minutes ago, Jparrish said:

Yeah if France was to have gone ahead but needed to be  "scaled down" I'd of been happy with this format much more realistic and financially viable. But if Australia go ahead and host we should persevere with 16 teams (whatever format) 

You can't really scale it down if countries have started on a qualifying process, and potentially gained funding etc from governments, or from sponsors based on a world cup campaign.

"Scaling it down" and therefore shutting countries out who are putting processes in place to qualify, effectively kills of rugby league in these developing countries.

A realistic route to World Cup qualification (Or Olympic qualification in the case of Olympic sports) is very often how sports secure funding in nations all round the world. Particularly for lesser sports, such as League. That's how the "industry" works. Without that route, a lot of governments won't fund a sport. 

 

[UTK]

2 hours ago, LlanWests said:

Uh? Many in Australia want to see the 'Roos play against Eng.

England hasn't been a drawcard in Australia for a very long time, they didn't even bother to play GB when they came in 2019 and every game in NZ was poorly supported as well.

 

[Madrileño]

1 hour ago, Pie tries said:

 You are obnoxious 

I can't stand any of your "opinions" but I will happily tolerate them without resorting to tantrums or name-calling.

Why? Because its an internet forum... people have differing viewpoints. I appreciate this is hard for you to grasp.

 

[Jparrish]

15 minutes ago, Madrileño said:

You can't really scale it down if countries have started on a qualifying process, and potentially gained funding etc from governments, or from sponsors based on a world cup campaign.

"Scaling it down" and therefore shutting countries out who are putting processes in place to qualify, effectively kills of rugby league in these developing countries.

A realistic route to World Cup qualification (Or Olympic qualification in the case of Olympic sports) is very often how sports secure funding in nations all round the world. Particularly for lesser sports, such as League. That's how the "industry" works. Without that route, a lot of governments won't fund a sport. 

 

They are points i wasn't really aware of to be fair. But was from the viewpoint of that 8 team format or nothing at all then I would of been happy with that. I'm very much for seeing the 16 team format persevere. I'm much more positive we will see a world cup in 2025 than I was previously it seemed to look like we wouldn't get any tournament at all. Although of course its a shame its fallen through for France

 

I've also just seen on the NZRL Instagram that there are talks of a "Southern hemisphere world cup" in place.....

 

[UTK]

https://www.nrl.com/news/2023/05/16/new-venues-considered-for-2025-world-cup-after-france-withdraws/

IRL to meet tomorrow to discuss contingency for 2025 and bids for 2029/2033.

[Madrileño]

20 minutes ago, Jparrish said:

They are points i wasn't really aware of to be fair. But was from the viewpoint of that 8 team format or nothing at all then I would of been happy with that. I'm very much for seeing the 16 team format persevere. 

 

No problem. I think a lot of people aren't aware, but it is probably one of the reasons that the World Cup has remained at 16 teams. It gives "credibility" (some degree) to an otherwise unknown sport in for example Netherlands or Serbia if they have a viable route to WC qualification.

If we look at the upcoming Small States Games (which sit under the Olympic umbrella) being played in Malta, a number of nations have secured funding for certain sports based on them attaining medal status. (No medal = funding cuts)

League has a relatively easy route to WC qualification compared to some larger sports, so it COULD be a useful vehicle for growing the game, assuming the World Cup tournament operates as a success and actually goes ahead! 

[Mojo]

2 hours ago, EggFace said:

I wonder if any World Cup games will be played in Fiji, Tonga, Samoa and PNG ?

I hope not. I'd rather they play it in Auckland or Wellington.

[Mojo]

The world cup should be in nz alone. And Australia can host the 2029 world cup. The popularity of rugby league is growing in nz and I won't be surprised if it gets bigger than RU in a few years. Due to Tonga and Samoa's rise on the world stage. I hope Nz gets to host it

[frank]

1 hour ago, Jparrish said:

Yeah if France was to have gone ahead but needed to be  "scaled down" I'd of been happy with this format much more realistic and financially viable. But if Australia go ahead and host we should persevere with 16 teams (whatever format) 

There would be  a lot more support if the cup was a stand alone in NZ. There is  a lot more support for internationals than in Aussie, where the last cup was very poorly supported. Three good venues Auckland, Wellington and Ch Ch  along with others.

[Jparrish]

Yeah im all for New Zealand hosting alone. I believe the NZ public would be more behind it and take more notice if it was hosted independently. I've actually just messaged NZRL page saying as much ha.

But can't see it happening unfortunately and given some of us thought we'd get no WC at all in 2025 we should settle for what we get I guess

[Matterhorn]

The glass half full approach tells me this is probably the right decision at the right time.

Imagine if we ploughed ahead & costs kept blowing out and we kept making changes and cutbacks to the tournament. 

We may of ended up putting the Kangaroos in a Contiki campsite 50 miles from Paris to save a bit of coin.

Yes the next couple of months may be a bit rough & obviously the disappointment can be seen but hopefully we get Aus/Nz on board & get something locked in.

Hopefully lessons are learned from this and we make sure we get the right host on board next time that can deliver.

[UTK]

NZ alone would only be possible with a 4+ year confirmation and leadup, poor crowds have followed both the Kiwis and Island nations outside of Auckland. 

Games in the Islands (PNG/FIJI primarily) are highly likely as these are likely to be the only places to attract bilateral government funding that could make games between smaller nations economically viable at such short notice.

Has to be another regional tournament that learns from the venue choices that plagued both 2017 and 2022, it can be done effectively but will be a massive challenge with only 2 years to prepare. This is nothing short of a disaster for International RL and the fate of the WC as we know it now rests with the IRL.