World rugby
| World rugby | |
|---|---|
|
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| Founded | 1886 |
| president | Bernard Lapasset |
| Members | 102 + 17 |
| Association headquarters | Dublin , Ireland |
| Official languages) | English , Spanish , French |
| Homepage | www.world.rugby |
World Rugby , known as the International Rugby Board (IRB) until November 2014 , is the world governing body for rugby union . It was founded in 1886 as the International Rugby Football Board (IRFB) by the federations from Scotland , Ireland and Wales . In 1890 England , which had initially refused to join, became the first new member.
World Rugby is headquartered in the Irish capital, Dublin . The association has 117 members (November 2014) and six regional associations. World Rugby hosts some of the most important international tournaments, most notably the four-year Rugby Union World Cup .
history
Before 1885, the English Rugby Football Union established the rules of the game . Because of disputes over rules and scoring, the associations from Ireland ( Irish Rugby Football Union ), Scotland ( Scottish Rugby Union ) and Wales ( Welsh Rugby Union ) founded an international association, the International Rugby Football Board (IRFB), and boycotted match traffic with England . After the disputes were settled, England joined the IRFB in 1890. In the same year, the IRFB laid down the first internationally binding rules. It was not until much later - namely in 1949 - that the major rugby nations Australia, New Zealand and South Africa joined.
In the past, the board was, according to its self-image and that of its members, a pure rules committee, not an actual umbrella organization for competitions such as championships or cup tournaments. This is already evident from the name: the founders deliberately did not choose the designation Union , Federation or Association . Board rather means commission or (supervisory) council.
It was only after France joined in 1978 that more and more countries were accepted in quick succession, initially the members of FIRA-AER (today: Rugby Europe ). The IRFB became a world association, hosted the first world championship in 1987 and took over the patronage of other competitions. In 1998 the name of the organization was shortened to International Rugby Board (IRB). Germany became the 38th member in November 1988. Since November 2014 the association has been called World Rugby.
Competitions
The first Rugby Union World Cup took place in 1987 in Australia and New Zealand. Since then it has been held every four years. The world championship is now one of the most important sporting events in the world. Rugby World Cup Ltd., which is managed by World Rugby, owns all rights related to the World Cup. The revenues are so great that World Rugby uses a significant portion of it to promote the development of less significant rugby nations. World Rugby also organizes the Women's Rugby Union World Cup , which also takes place every four years, the year before the Men's World Cup. Other tournaments are the U-21 and U-19 men's world championships.
World Rugby is responsible for organizing numerous competitions in the 7-a-side rugby variant . The most important are the IRB Sevens World Series . In 1993, at the suggestion of the Scottish Association, a 7-a-side rugby world championship was held for the first time . In 2009 a 7th rugby world championship for women took place for the first time.
In addition to the rugby union world championships for men and women and the numerous rugby 7 competitions, World Rugby organizes other tournaments all over the world. World Rugby aims to make rugby more popular in North America and therefore organizes the Churchill Cup and the Super Powers Cup . The North America 4 competition is intended to grow into a professional North American league in the long term. World rugby is similarly active in the Pacific region with the Pacific Rugby Cup and the Pacific Nations Cup . The Nations Cup aims to promote sport in Portugal and Russia.
Olympic games
The Olympic Games featured rugby union four times, the last time in 1924. In the 1980s there were some attempts to make rugby union an Olympic sport again, but the efforts fizzled out. The federation was keen to make the sport Olympic again, especially since rugby 7 in particular met all the criteria defined in the Olympic Charter. 7-a-side rugby is played by men in over 100 countries and women in over 50 countries. World Rugby adheres to the rules of the World Anti-Doping Agency and stresses that an Olympic tournament could be played in a single stadium and at a low cost.
In August 2009, the IOC executive proposed adding rugby and golf to the program for the 2016 Olympic Games . This proposal was approved at the IOC General Assembly.
Members
World Rugby divides its members into three strength classes. The participants of the Six Nations (England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, Wales) and The Rugby Championship (Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Argentina) form the first strength class. The second strength class includes Canada, the USA, Fiji, Japan, Romania, Samoa and Tonga. All other member countries are divided into the third strength class.
Africa
23 members of Rugby Africa belong to World Rugby, of which 21 are full members and two are associate members:
1 associate member
Asia
23 members of the Asian Rugby Football Union (ARFU) belong to World Rugby:
Europe
40 members of the Rugby Europe Association belong to World Rugby:
1 former member
North America and the Caribbean
13 members of the North America and West Indies Rugby Association (NAWIRA) 2 belong to World Rugby, eleven of them as full members and two as associate members:
1 associate member
2 As part of the Pan American Rugby Association , the North America and West Indies Rugby Association and the Confederación Sudamericana de Rugby form a joint all-American umbrella organization.
Oceania
12 members of the Federation of Oceania Rugby Unions (FORU) belong to World Rugby:
South America
9 members of the Confederación Sudamericana de Rugby 3 (CONSUR) belong to World Rugby:
3 As part of the Pan American Rugby Association , the Confederación Sudamericana de Rugby and the North America and West Indies Rugby Association form a common all-American umbrella organization.
See also
- World rugby rankings
- World Rugby Hall of Fame
- Rugby League International Federation - the world association for rugby leagues
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ World Rugby: Handbook (PDF; 5.8MB) January 3, 2017. Archived from the original on May 23, 2017.
- ^ Rugby and the Olympic Games ( September 19, 2012 memento in the Internet Archive ) on the IRB website