2019 Rabbitoh News - Brazil Rugby League obtain RLIF Affiliate Status

Brazil Rugby League obtain RLIF Affiliate Mmembership

13rd June 2020

The board of the Rugby League International Federation (RLIF) has received and approved an application by the Confederacao Brasileira Rugby League to become an affiliate member of the federation. The application will now go before the whole membership for ratification, which is expected in July. Significantly, CBRL is recognised by the Ministry of Sport’s Organizacao Nacional das Entitades do Esporto as the legal governing body of rugby league in the South American country. Operations Manager for the RLIF Danny Kazandjian welcomed the application: “The team behind rugby league in Brazil have been working hard to reach this point since 2015 and have proven themselves to be highly professional and efficient. Confederacao Brasileira Rugby League’s compelling application clearly demonstrated their level of organisation, their achievements in the sport so far and their ambitious plans for the future. We have every confidence that they will be a superb addition to our growing membership. “Brazil becomes the sport’s second affiliate member in South America, following Chile, and their arrival marks the first regional G20 country, in support of the RLIF’s Global Conversion strategy. We are working with several other organisations across Latin America who have applications in the pipeline.” Hugo Froes, the CBRL chief operating officer, commented upon the approval by the RLIF board: “We at the Confederation have dedicated ourselves exclusively to the growth of the sport and in less than a year we held the largest rugby league festival in the Americas. We held it over three days and played more than 25 games of 9s and 13s. We finished undefeated in all categories and have the largest grassroots activity in Latin America. “To become an affiliate member of the RLIF and to be recognised officially by the Brazilian government and the Ministry of Sports, only consolidates and demonstrates the value of our work." As an affiliate member of the RLIF, Brazil will be qualified to enter all official RLIF organised competitions including future world cups.