The Rugby League World Cup that was originally fixtured to kick-off in late October of this year has officially been postponed until 2022.
In an official statement issued on Thursday afternoon AEST, the RLWC2021 Board stated that they faced multiple challenges in their path to hosting the event this year and that they were left with little choice but to move the start date back.
We can announce this morning that the tournament will be postponed until 2022. We have done everything in our power to stage the tournament this year, but it is not to be. 🏆
Remain supportive of the tournament, the teams, the players and most of all our amazing sport. ❤️
— Rugby League World Cup 2021 (@RLWC2021) August 5, 2021
The statement reads as follows:
Rugby League World Cup 2021 (RLWC2021) and the UK Government have today announced their intention to stage the flagship event in the international Rugby League calendar in 2022.
The extremely difficult decision was taken by the RLWC2021 Board, which includes representation from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, and the International Rugby League (IRL) Board
This follows extensive and urgent consultation conducted by RLWC2021 Chief Executive Officer Jon Dutton and his team, which engaged players, competing nations, the Rugby League Players Association (Australia), UK Government, hosts, commercial and broadcast partners.
Tournament organisers faced several unique and complex challenges with the most significant being the non-release of up to 400 players, match officials and staff members from the NRL competition in Australia. This is despite all requests from international rugby league federations having been met which included the rigorous health measures that have been keeping thousands of elite athletes from around the world safe whilst competing in major sporting events across the UK over the last year.
Ultimately this decision has been detrimental to the plans and ambitions of many of the competing nations and potential replacement teams. A key factor was ensuring that fans of Rugby League are able to enjoy the best possible tournament, which was not possible under these circumstances.
We are working hard to confirm new tournament arrangements including ticket details and availability and will be providing updates as soon as can.
As stated, a revised fixture has yet to be announced.
At the time of writing, a statement from the ARLC, NZRL and/or the NRL is also yet to be released.
