The Arabian Gulf Rugby Football Union (AGRFU) was the governing body for

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

that represented the

Gulf Cooperation Council The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (), also known as the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC; ), is a Regional integration, regional, intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental, political, and economic union comprising Ba ...

states until the end of 2010. As well as organising local and regional competitions in

UAE The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a federal elective monarchy made up of seven emirates, with Abu Dhabi serving as i ...

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

and

Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

, the AGRFU administered representative Arabian Gulf rugby teams and hosted the annual Dubai round of the Sevens World Series and

2009 Rugby World Cup Sevens The 2009 Rugby sevens World Cup was the fifth edition of the Rugby World Cup Sevens. The International Rugby Board (IRB) selected Dubai in the United Arab Emirates as the host venue for the tournament ahead of bids from four other countries. The f ...

in Dubai.

History

Rugby in the Arabian Peninsula was first played in the 1940s by the British military and expatriate oil workers in Kuwait. By 1974, rugby clubs had also been established in UAE (Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Ras Al Khaimah and Sharjah), Saudi Arabia (Dhahran), Qatar (Doha), and Bahrain. The GRFU (Gulf Rugby Football Union) was founded in that year, under the umbrella of the English RFU along with a referees association. To begin with, many matches were played on sand but today almost all are played on grass pitches. The AGRFU was formed in 1989 with the emphasis being on the Union being the Arabian Gulf and, in its own right, became a member of the International Rugby Football Board (now known as World Rugby) in 1990. Through its regional development program, the AGRFU also helped facilitate the entry of Lebanon and Jordan into international rugby. THE AGRFU played in the Hong Kong 7s in 1992 and the Rugby World Cup 7s Qualifying Tournament in Catania, Sicily in 1993, its first representative international competition. This was followed by its first 'home' international against Kenya, held in Dubai, in 1995. World Rugby's governance restructuring project for the West Asia region resulted in the AGRFU being dissolved at the end of 2010 to allow separate national unions administer the game in each member country. The UAE Rugby Federation was formed in 2009 and the UAE national team inherited the former Arabian Gulf team's world ranking, while separate federations in

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

and Saudi Arabia became the new

sports governing bodies A sports governing body is a sports organisation that has a regulatory or sanctioning function. Sports governing bodies come in various forms and have a variety of regulatory functions, including disciplinary action for rule infractions and dec ...

for those countries.

References

External links

* Official former * {{World Rugby Rugby union governing bodies in Asia Sports organizations established in 1974 1974 establishments in Asia Defunct rugby union governing bodies Rugby union in the Arabian Peninsula

History

See also

References

External links