Summary
- France was set to host the 2025 Rugby League World Cup
- France has confirmed it has decided to pull out due to financial reasons
- International Rugby League will now look to find a new host or cancel the World Cup
When it comes to global sporting events, countries around the world compete hard to win the rights to win a major sporting tournament like the FIFA World Cup, ICC Cricket World Cup or Rugby League World Cup.
France which hosted the Rugby League World Cup in 1972 was set to be the exclusive hosts for the Rugby League World Cup during Oct and Nov 2025. However, France made a shock announcement as France has now confirmed that they will not be able to host the World Cup.
The main reason behind France’s decision to opt out of hosting the World Cup is due to financial reasons. The French government had asked tournament organizers to provide them with a financial guarantee in case the tournament ended up running a loss. The organizers had to meet certain conditions to guarantee the government of funds and organizers struggled to do this even though they were granted additional time by the government.
Since they could not meet the financial guarantee, the French government decided to cut funds to sponsor the tournament and the organizers were forced to make a decision to pull out as they are unable to successfully host the 2025 Rugby League World Cup without the government’s support and backing.
The International Rugby League (IRL) had initially made plans for the 2025 Rugby League World Cup to be hosted in North America but those plans were scrapped an France was given hosting rights. Now with France pulling out, the IRL will hold serious discussions during their next board meeting to determine if they can find a host or will have to cancel the World Cup.
Troy Grant, chairman for the IRL said that he was very disappointed to see France pull out of hosting the 2025 Rugby League World Cup. Grant said he respected the decision by the French government but did meet with them in person to let them know his take on the matter.
The 2025 Rugby League World Cup will have four tournaments – youth, wheelchair, women’s and men’s World Cup.
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