Photo for representational purposes only
The State of Qatar may emerge as an unlikely host of the Rugby League World Cup, being one of four nations to express an interest in hosting the 2025 tournament, rugby league's governing body said Wednesday after France withdrew its hosting rights.
"We have received expressions of interest from New Zealand, Fiji, South Africa and Qatar already," said Troy Grant, chairman of the International Rugby League.
"We are yet to make any assessments in regarded to their viability, I’m just being honest about who has reached out. It gives me comfort that there is interest in our sport and our World Cup. How real or viable any or all of those options are, we’re yet to make any of those assessments.”
Qatar has come off hosting a historic 2022 FIFA World Cup for the first time last year and will host the AFC Asian Cup in January and the FIBA men's basketball World Cup in 2027. The country's capital Doha will host the multi-sport Asian Games in 2030.
Rugby league, whose stronghold is in Australia, New Zealand and Britain, is separate from rugby union, which is the version of the sport played in the Olympics.
French organizers said they couldn’t fully meet financial guarantees for the risk of loss demanded by the French government and the IRL is scrambling to save the tournament, which could be delayed or scrapped completely.
