Welcome to the Rugby League Europe Federation

British Ambassador extols Rugby League

Saturday 6th March 2010

When asked by LBC’s leading current affairs programme Kalam Al Nass to participate in a feature for International Women’s Day, Her Excellency Frances Guy, British ambassador to the Republic of Lebanon, insisted on conducting the interview at the Middle East North Africa Under-16s Rugby League Championship at AUB’s Green Field.

“Rugby league in Lebanon is a great example of what can be achieved with a bit of determination and a bit of enthusiasm,” she said. “I would like to see the Lebanese government encouraging sport a bit more and providing access to facilities for a wider range of the populace.”

This type of inclusion is a by-word in rugby league in the region, as demonstrated by the teams participating in the current tournament.

“Sport is one of the best ways to bridge the social and economic divides in the world and what I saw today is a great example of this, with poor Palestinian kids playing against kids from well-to-do backgrounds from Saudi Arabia. I’m very encouraged to see a Palestinian team made up of children from the camps,” enthused the ambassador at the tournament’s second match, on Thursday. “These boys are refugees starting from scratch, without any prior knowledge of RL but they are clearly going for it with gusto!”

The ambassador, who has been Britain’s chief diplomat in Lebanon since 2006, and who possesses a wealth of experience of the Arab world, having worked in Sudan, Yemen and Damascus, went on to remark upon the similarities resonating between the MENA U16s and the history of the sport itself.

“Fittingly, this competition suits the social origins of rugby league in many ways, with the disparity between the poorer north (of England) and the rich southerners, and that makes me very proud to see what’s happening in Lebanon, especially when you consider that it’s a very British game.”

Having taken in both of the games so far, and witnessed all three teams in action, who better than Ambassador Guy to offer a verdict ahead of Saturday’s deciding match between the Saudis and Lebanese?

“The Saudis are clearly very strong but from what I saw of the Lebanese they have a lot of heart. It should be a good game!”