The Euro-Med Challenge is an international

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 11 ...

football competition. The competition is organized by the

Rugby League European Federation The European Rugby League (ERL) is the Umbrella organization, umbrella body for nations playing the sport of rugby league football across Europe. In the absence of other continental federations, ERL also controls rugby league in North America (in ...

and is designed to promote the sport of rugby league in Europe and the

Mediterranean Region In biogeography, the Mediterranean Basin (; also known as the Mediterranean Region or sometimes Mediterranea) is the region of lands around the Mediterranean Sea that have mostly a Mediterranean climate, with mild to cool, rainy winters and wa ...

. The Euro Med Challenge is a second or third tier competition for European rugby league teams. Because of its place as a developmental competition, it is not always contested by the same nations. In 2008, it was contested among

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

and

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

. All three of these teams, however, were promoted to the European Cup in 2009, so three new teams were selected for the 2009 installment:

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

and

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the nort ...

2008

Russia won the 2008 tournament, which was expected to hinge on the Russia-Lebanon game. However, many of the Lebanese players could not obtain visas to travel to Russia in time for the match. This resulted in one-sided scoreline in Russia's favour and handed them the tournament.

Results

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Standings

2009

In 2009, the RLEF announced that Russia, Lebanon and Serbia would be promoted to a revamped

European Nations Cup European Nations Cup may refer to: *UEFA European Championship, formerly known as European Nations' Cup * Europcar Cup, a European Tour golf tournament * European Nations Cup (golf), a European Ladies Tour golf tournament * European Nations Cup (fi ...

. The Euro-Med Challenge was therefore contested by three new teams in 2009 –

and

, who made their competitive debuts, and

. Belgium recorded their first international win, beating Catalonia in game 2 of the tournament, but the experienced Moroccan team won the competition.

Results

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Standings

EuroMedChallenge2009-Catalonia-Morocco-1

References

External links

Official RLEF Website

Highlights video: Catalonia-Morocco

Highlights video: Belgium-Catalonia
{{International rugby league European rugby league competitions

2008

Results

Standings

2009

Results

Standings

See also

References

External links