The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting that the South African Rugby Leagues fight to be recognised as a sport independent of Rugby Union could be over within weeks should the countries 2017 World Cup bid open the right doors to the right people.
Rugby League in South Africa has been fighting a ridiculous battle recently to gain recognition as an official sport. As it stands right now, the South African government considers Rugby League to be part of Rugby Union. This obviously is an issue when it comes to funding as Rugby Union authorities want to see Rugby League not gain any momentum in the country.
The South African Rugby Union are actually fighting against Rugby Leagues push to be recognized as a different sport!
It looks as though a breakthrough is about to be made though with news that South Africa want to bid for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup.
While the chances of South Africa being awarded the 2017 World Cup rights are extremely slim, the possibility of hosting the event draw in various other government agencies that help blow this League vs Union thing wide open.
There have been many false dawns in South Africa over the years with a number of people claiming Rugby League way played in South Africa when it really wasn’t at all. Now it seems some real progress is being made.
Lets hope the South African Rugby League gets its official recognition and that allows them to get the funding they need to grow the game.
