The European Rugby League (ERL) is the
umbrella body
An umbrella organization is an association of (often related, industry-specific) institutions who work together formally to coordinate activities and/or pool resources. In business, political, and other environments, it provides resources and ofte ...
for nations playing the sport of
rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...
football across
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
. In the absence of other continental federations, ERL also controls rugby league in
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
(including
Central America
Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...
), the
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...
and
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
.
History
2003-2019
The federation was founded January 2003 following an initiative between
Richard Lewis Richard, Rich, Richie, Rick, Ricky or Dick Lewis may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Richard Field Lewis Jr. (1907–1957), American radio network owner
* Dick "Rocko" Lewis (Richard Henry Lewis III, 1908–1966), American entertainer
* Rich ...
, Executive Chairman of
Britain
Britain most often refers to:
* The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands
* Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
's
Rugby Football League
The Rugby Football League is the governing body for professional rugby league in England, and until 1995 for the whole British Isles. The name Rugby Football League previously also referred to the main league competition run by the organisati ...
(RFL) and his
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
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 Cup, 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.
2020-present
The RLEF was renamed the European Rugby League in 2021, in line with the RLIF's renaming to the
International Rugby League
The International Rugby League (IRL) is the global governing body for the sport of rugby league football. Previously known as the ''Rugby League Imperial Board'', the '' International Rugby League Board'' and latterly the ''Rugby League Internat ...
.
After the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...
, the European Rugby League banned Russia from all international rugby league competitions.
Competitions
ERL board
Current board
Former members: Chairperson:
Maurice Watkins , Board Member: Blagoje Stoiljkovic
Membership
Currently eleven nations are full members of the federation; there are also fifteen affiliate members and nineteen official observers. Full members are entitled to a greater proportion of voting rights and to become members of the
Rugby League International Federation
The International Rugby League (IRL) is the global governing body for the sport of rugby league football. Previously known as the ''Rugby League Imperial Board'', the '' International Rugby League Board'' and latterly the ''Rugby League Internat ...
.
In order to become an associate member, a nation must meet the following criteria:
* Implementation of a
constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When ...
and rules that commit the
governing body
A governing body is a group of people that has the authority to exercise governance over an organization or political entity. The most formal is a government, a body whose sole responsibility and authority is to make binding decisions in a taken ge ...
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 or The League may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band
* ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football
Sports
* Sports league
* Rugby league, full contact footba ...
competition with at least four teams.
* Implementation of a junior development programme.
* The production of a
Business Development
Business development entails tasks and processes to develop and implement growth opportunities within and between organizations. It is a subset of the fields of business, commerce and organizational theory. Business development is the creation of ...
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 ERL 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
Affiliate members
Official observers
*
Albanian Rugby League
Albanian Rugby League (ARL) represents Albania in international rugby league tournaments, as well as organizes domestic competitions, and undertakes development projects. Rugby league is a new sport in Albania, which has been officially registered ...
*
Belgium Rugby League Association
Belgium Rugby League Association was formed in 2009 to govern the Belgium national rugby league team, which was formed after the success of the 2008 World Cup.https://www.rlef.eu.com/teams/61
References
External links
*
{{Sports governing ...
*
Bosnia and Herzegovina Rugby League Association
Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...
*
Bulgarian Rugby League Federation
Bulgarian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria
* Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group
* Bulgarian language, a Slavic language
* Bulgarian alphabet
* A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria
* Bul ...
*
Burundi Rugby League
Burundi (, ), officially the Republic of Burundi ( rn, Repuburika y’Uburundi ; Swahili: ''Jamuhuri ya Burundi''; French: ''République du Burundi'' ), is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley at the junction between the African Gre ...
*
DR Congo Rugby League XIII
*
Dansk Rugby League
The Denmark Rugby League is the governing body for the sport of rugby league football in Denmark and the Denmark national rugby league team, formed in 2009.
*
El Salvador Rugby League
EL, El or el may refer to:
Religion
* El (deity), a Semitic word for "God"
People
* EL (rapper) (born 1983), stage name of Elorm Adablah, a Ghanaian rapper and sound engineer
* El DeBarge, music artist
* El Franco Lee (1949–2016), American p ...
*
Ethiopia Rugby League
*
Hungarian Rugby League Federation
The Hungarian Rugby League Federation ( hu, Magyar Ligarögbi Szövetség) was established as a nonprofit non-governmental organisation in 2013 by three Hungarians: Zsolt Lukács, Zsolt Habóczki and Bálint Mézes.https://www.rlef.eu.com/tea ...
*
Kenya Rugby League
The Kenya Rugby League is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in Kenya. The organisation oversees the national team as well as domestic competitions run within the country, including the Kenya RL Premiership.
In November 2021, the Eu ...
*
Latvia Rugby League
The Latvia Rugby League is the governing body for the sport of rugby league football in Latvia. The Association was formed in 2009. In March 2024, they were expelled from the International Rugby League, IRL due to inactivity.
See also
* Latvia ...
*
Libya Rugby League Association
*
Montenegro Rugby League
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*
Palestinian Rugby League
*
Polska Rugby XIII
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 million people, and the s ...
*
Saudi Arabian Rugby League Association Saudi may refer to:
* Saudi Arabia
* Saudis, people from Saudi Arabia
* Saudi culture
The cultural setting of Saudi Arabia is greatly influenced by the Arab and Islamic culture. The society is in general deeply religious, conservative, tradit ...
*
Sierra Leone Rugby League
Sierra (Spanish for "mountain range" and "saw", from Latin '' serra'') may refer to the following:
Places Mountains and mountain ranges
* Sierra de Juárez, a mountain range in Baja California, Mexico
* Sierra de las Nieves, a mountain range i ...
*
Sweden Rugby League
The Sweden Rugby League is the governing body for the sport of rugby league football in Sweden. The Association was formed in 2009. The Swedish rugby league international side debuted in 2010 against their neighbours Norway.
Honours
2013 Nordi ...
Former observer members
*
Rugby League Association of Catalonia
* Federația Româna de Rugby XIII
* Trinidad & Tobago Rugby League Association
*
Emirates Rugby League
United Arab Emirates Rugby League (or UAERL) was the governing body for rugby league in the United Arab Emirates. It operated under the auspices of the Rugby League European Federation’s Euro Med Department, the UAERL governed rugby league at all ...
ERL national team results at World Cups
Official ERL rankings
See also
*
Rugby League International Federation
The International Rugby League (IRL) is the global governing body for the sport of rugby league football. Previously known as the ''Rugby League Imperial Board'', the '' International Rugby League Board'' and latterly the ''Rugby League Internat ...
*
Asia-Pacific Rugby League Confederation
The Asia-Pacific Rugby League Confederation (APRLC) is an umbrella body for nations playing the sport of rugby league football in the Southern Hemisphere. The Confederation aims to act as a counterpart to the Rugby League European Federation.
...
References
External links
*
{{Sports governing bodies in Europe
International organisations based in London
Organisations based in Manchester
Organisations based in the City of London
Sports governing bodies in Europe