The seeds of rugby league in Lebanon lie in Australia. A group of Australian-born rugby league players with Lebanese heritage, mostly from inner-city Sydney formed a team with a view to entering the 2000 Rugby League World Cup. They were accepted into the qualifying tournament on the agreement that they would aim to develop rugby league within the country they represent. They subsequently went on to win the qualifying competition, earning their place by defeating

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and

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 ...

of the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...

group before travelling to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

to defeat the

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, winners of the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

group. In 2002 a domestic league was set up in Lebanon, initially with four university-based teams. Players from the domestic competition now feature in the national team. A team composed entirely from Lebanese domestic players, known as ''Lebanon Espoirs'' has been formed. In 2011, Lebanon nearly qualified for 2013 Rugby League World Cup but lost to Italy who became the 14th and final nation to qualify for the event. In 2011, the government of Lebanon promised to increase its support and funding for rugby league.

Governing body and competitions

The Lebanese Rugby League Federation is based in Safra, Lebanon. It is an associate members of 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 a full member of the

Rugby League International Federation The International Rugby League (IRL) is the global governing body for the sport of rugby league football. Previously known as the ''Rugby League Imperial Board'', the '' International Rugby League Board'' and latterly the ''Rugby League Internat ...

Lebanon Rugby League Championship

There are eight teams that play in the Bank of Beirut Lebanon Championship domestic league.

Media

Media representation of rugby league has grown dramatically with the domestic competition now covered by all ten marquee Lebanese newspapers, two prominent radio stations and the country's major television stations. Lebanese rugby league is often featured on the

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it ...

-based

Al Jazeera Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazeera ...

network.

televised the first game report of a game in Lebanon in 2007.
2007 Al Jazeera Feature on Youtube

The National Team

The

Lebanon national rugby league team The Lebanon national rugby league team (Arabic: المنتخب اللبناني للرجبي ليغ) represents Lebanon in rugby league football. Nicknamed "the Cedars" after the Lebanese cedar tree, the team was formed by Lebanese Australians ...

, nicknamed the ''Cedars'', remains mostly composed of players of Lebanese ancestry from Australia. The ''Lebanon Espoirs'' team, made up of younger players from the domestic competition, has played a number of fixtures - this team has competed annually in the Rugby League Mediterranean Cup, which is hosted in Lebanon. Many of the Espoirs players have gone into represent Lebanon in full international matches. The Cedars have been largely successful in international competition - they were unbeaten in 12 tests between 2000 and 2007, a record which included two draws against Ireland. This winning streak ended with a 38–16 loss to Samoa in the final game of their

2008 Rugby League World Cup The 2008 Rugby League World Cup was the thirteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup since its inauguration in 1954, and the first since the 2000 tournament. The tournament was held in Australia from 26 October, culminating in the final ...

qualification campaign. The team qualified and played in the

2017 Rugby League World Cup The 2017 Rugby League World Cup was the fifteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup tournament and took place in Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea between 27 October and 2 December 2017. The tournament featured the national teams ...

, winning their first ever world cup game against France in the qualifying group stage which resulted in the team competing in the quarter finals. The Cedars lost the quarter finals to Tonga 24- 22. The team also received many plaudits for their performances against Australia and England.

Liban Espoir

Since the creation of a five-team domestic league in Lebanon in 2003, a second team was formed made up of players from that league under Head Coach Remond Safi. They are known as the Liban Espoir and regularly tour other countries. In 2003 the team toured Morocco. In 2005 they toured England and Wales, playing numerous matches against the England Lionhearts, Welsh Presidents XIII and

Rugby League Conference The Rugby League Conference (RLC) (also known as the Co-operative Rugby League Conference as a result of sponsorship from The Co-operative Group), was a series of regionally based divisions of amateur rugby league teams spread throughout England ...

teams. In 2006 they recorded their first victory on tour in

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...

against a British combined services team. In 2007 they beat the main Serbian national team 16-14 and went on to defeat a Serbia Development XIII 50–0. In 2008 they played the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia ( The Middle East). It is located at t ...

of the Emirates Rugby League, the first game ever to be played by the nation. The match was played in

Bhamdoun Bhamdoun ( ar, بحمدون), is a town in Lebanon from Beirut on the main road that leads to Damascus and in the suburbs of the main tourist city of Aley, lying at an altitude of above the Lamartine valley. Two separate villages compose the to ...

with the Liban Espoir eventually winning 48–18. In 2009, Liban Espoir played the UAE Falcons in a three-game series. The first game, played in

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

The Sevens stadium The Sevens is a purpose-built rugby sevens stadium in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The Sevens Stadium is a venue for rugby, association football, Gaelic football, Australian football (Aussie rules football), netball, basketball, cricket, tennis, ...

ended early with the UAE Falcons leading 16-6 because of a mass brawl. The remaining two games were played at The Sevens and Bhamdoun. In the second game, at The Sevens, The Espoirs were defeated 34–10.

Touch Football

The Lebanon national touch football team debuted in 1999. It has qualified for the 1999 World Cup in Australia where the Men's Over 30s won silver, Mixed Open won bronze and Men's Open came 5th. In the 2001 Youth World Cup in New Zealand the Lebanese Men's Under 18s team finished 4th and Men's Under 20s came 6th. In the 2005 Youth World Cup in Australia the Men's Under 20s defeated South Africa to win the bronze medal. In the 2007 World Cup in South Africa the Men's Opens team defeated Japan to win the bronze medal. Lebanon are currently ranked third in the world behind Australia and New Zealand.

References

External links

Official website of the Lebanese Rugby LeagueAl Jazeera special on Lebanese rugby league (on youtube)
{{Rugby League Playing Nations links