England to challenge United States for right to host 2021 Rugby League World Cup
Saturday 10 September 2016 12:08, UK
England are set to go head-to-head with the United States in a battle to host the 2021 Rugby League World Cup.
Rugby League International Federation chief executive David Collier has revealed that after receiving initial interest from four countries, the shortlist has been reduced to two, with the winner to be announced during the 2016 Four Nations Series in November.
Collier declined to reveal the final two but Press Association understands the choice will be made between the Rugby Football League, which went public with its bid in June, and an application submitted last month by an Australian businessman on behalf of the United States Rugby League.
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South Africa were also thought to have shown an interest but did not press their case sufficiently.
"We received four expressions of interest and two of them asked for confidentiality," Collier said.
"They were studied by an independent three-man assessment panel and now we move onto the second phase which comes down to discussions with two of the bidders. It is fair to assume that England are one of the two.
"We are committed to making an announcement at the congress in November so we will have to draw up the contracts in October and we're well on track to do that."
The final decision will be made by the board of the RLIF, but Collier confirmed that chairman Nigel Wood, who is also chief executive of the RFL, and fellow board member Brian Barwick, RFL chairman, will not take part in the process to ensure impartiality.
The RFL last staged the World Cup in 2013 and has secured £15m in government funding to bring it back in 2021.
The United States are hoping to take the tournament outside Australasia and Europe for the first time in its 67-year history.
Australia and New Zealand are co-hosting the 2017 event.
