Three more countries to become full World Rugby members
The ascension of the three national unions from associate members was confirmed at the Annual Meeting of Council on Thursday.
Nepal, Qatar and Turkey have been approved as full members at the Annual Meeting of World Rugby Council, which was held virtually on 11 May.
Each of the three national unions have ascended to that status having previously been associate members.
World Rugby’s supreme decision-making body approved the recommendations of the Executive Board and Regional Committee, to accept their moves to full membership, after Nepal, Qatar and Turkey each met the necessary governance criteria.
Although the total membership of the international federation remains at 132, its make-up has been changed by the promotion of the three unions and now comprises 114 full members and 18 associate members.
The move demonstrates the continued strategic focus on the expansion of rugby’s reach across the globe, driven by a surge of interest in women’s rugby, and the development of rugby sevens in emerging nations.
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Qatar and Turkey’s promotion to full member status comes three years after the two unions were admitted as associate members in May, 2020.
The news was also confirmed less than a week after Qatar claimed the men’s Asia Rugby Championship Division 2 2023 title, following wins against India and Kazakhstan in Doha.
Qatar Rugby Federation President Yousef Al Kuwari and General Secretary Abdulla Al Khater said in a joint statement: “We are thrilled and honoured to be recognised as a full World Rugby member.?
“This is a momentous occasion for the Qatar Rugby Federation and a testament to the hard work and dedication of everyone involved in promoting and developing rugby in our country.
“We are excited to take our place amongst many other esteemed unions and contribute to the?growth?of this great sport.”
Rugby has been played in Qatar since 1974, when the first club was formed, and the Qatar Rugby Federation have an ambitious strategic plan to develop the sport at grassroots level, creating a pathway from age-grade to the senior national sides by 2030.
Turkey’s men’s national team will conclude their Rugby Europe Conference 2 South campaign against Montenegro this weekend, looking for their first win of the season.
In sevens, meanwhile, their men play in the Rugby Europe Sevens Conference and women in the Rugby Europe Women’s Sevens Trophy.
Domestically, Turkey is home to a senior men’s 15s championship and men’s, women’s, boys’ and girls’ sevens tournaments.
The country boasts 3,648 registered players (2,300 male and 1,348 female), while tag rugby is taught in schools as preparation for moving into the senior game.
Turkish Rugby Federation President Murat Pazan said: “Our goal is to cultivate the rugby culture among Turkish youth, and we are committed to working towards this aim.
“It has been particularly satisfying for us to see our progress and efforts acknowledged by both World Rugby and Rugby Europe in recent years.
“Walking alongside the World Rugby family from this day forward will provide us with strength and motivation. Therefore, we would like to express our gratitude to World Rugby Chairman Sir Bill Beaumont, Rugby Europe President Octavian Morariu, all of their office staff, and finally, Jason Lewis, who played a significant role in our membership and honoured us by visiting our country.”
Nepal have been an associate member since November 2020. Their men’s national team competed in the Asia Rugby Championship Division 3 South last November, losing both of their matches, against hosts India and Bangladesh, in Kolkata.
Rugby was first played in Nepal in the early 1980s, but the visit of the Rugby World Cup 2019 Trophy Tour in December 2018 proved a game-changer in raising awareness of the sport among the youth population and important stakeholders in the country.
The union’s Women’s Development Committee vice-chair, Kamana Giri earned a place on the Capgemini Women in Rugby Leadership Programme in March 2022.
Nepal Rugby Association President Dipak Devkota said: “We extend our heartfelt gratitude to World Rugby and its Council for granting us the esteemed status of being a full member, which serves as both a challenge and an opportunity.
“The recognition bestowed upon us has provided a tremendous boost to the players, officials, and the entire rugby community in Nepal, inspiring us to further enhance the growth and development of rugby within our nation.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Wasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
3 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
30 Go to comments