Danny Kazandjian has had a look at your questions and has given the following answers: Slobodan Manak: If now RLEF has more money for developing the game, maybe its time for more aggresive strategy like sending 1 or 2 developing managers to countries which havent any RL or just have started to develop the game. Instead of waiting to the countries to develop the game on their own. Maybe Romania, Portugal, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Belorusia, Lithuania, Poland obviously needs help, and countries from Africa, not only Ghana and SA. Morroco needs different kind of help, its time to target another country in Africa. And one of the aims in 2014 must be to begin RL in at least one country in South America. It has big potential. Maybe Brasil or Columbia or Mexico. DK: The RLEF will, in August, reach the midway point of its eight-year strategy. This strategy is built around the values of empowerment, being a dynamic organisation and, most importantly, cultivating rugby league culture by growing participation levels through domestic championships, and concurrently supporting technical education. It is important we remain on course to achieve our objectives. This year we’ve had significant increases in domestic activity in the Czech Republic and Ukraine, as well as club championships kicking off for the first time in Ghana, Latvia, Greece and Bosnia. Elsewhere, nations are starting to develop clubs and begin local competition, such as in Hungary, Belgium, Holland, Sweden and Denmark. Domestic competitions will lead to more rugby league being played for more of the time and that will result in the growth of a local RL culture. As an organisation we are moving away from deploying central staff in individual countries as, simply, there are much more RLEF members now than in 2009 and we promote the principal of sovereignty as much as possible. You mention a lot of new countries and while we’d all like the game to be played in every country in Europe, it serves RL’s interests more to ensure that the countries we do have are administered by stable, competent, well resourced and well governed NGBs, all recognised by their government, with a stable club structure and capable of acting independently. This is preferable to spreading ourselves thinly and having a ‘Development Lite’ approach. That brings me onto the EU grant to which you allude. This grant is for a specific set of capacity building activities and is tightly controlled. It does give us flexibility to divert funds to other areas of the federation but it cannot be used for anything other than the specific 26 activities included in the application. Our focus is on ensuring that the participating nations fully embrace the opportunity provided by the grant to ensure that they become more independent, capable rugby league governing bodies. Souhail Ait Alla 1- How was the interview between the Moroccan delegate and yur crew, on Morocco RL problems and solutions , you told me that the meeting will be in 4 November and my question is can the RLEF with the prise of wins record European Union help devlopmt RL in Africa or try to help others to grow thier Game in thier Country 2 - why the RLIF cant give a chance to all countries who have RL to play in next World cup 2017 , its our game and we need to grow it up so why not to let more countries play thier games. DK: Our ambassador, Brian Simpson MEP, met the Moroccan ambassador to the EU on 4 November. The ambassador agreed to contact, and has already contacted, the ministries of sport and interior for an official response, which we are now waiting for. The Federation Marocaine de RL has also re-contacted sports minister Ouzzine with its request for recognition and is in contact with the embassy in Brussels. If we do not hear a positive response by the first week of December we will escalate our intervention. As we all appreciate, the wheels of diplomacy sometimes move fairly slowly but Mr Simpson has delivered our demands and detailed the consequences should this issue be disregarded by the Moroccan government. The EU grant will not directly help Morocco because it is a very controlled project, comprising a series of activities that must be carried out within the EU by EU members. However, as I mentioned above, it does allow us to redirect resources to other areas. The FMRL must begin a club championship if it wants to develop the game. I know they face difficulties from an aggressive local RU and that is why we are assisting them politically, but they have qualified Level 1 coaches and registered local clubs and I hope these coaches would set about training the players at these clubs. Your second question: no details about the 2017 RLWC have been finalised so I’m not sure I understand your point. As you may be aware from various press reports, the RLIF has set up a bid panel to recommend the host nation for 2017. Des Foy. Will the RLEF receive any profits from the world cup that they will be able to share out to European nations, and if so what will the criteria be for applying for such funds, and if funds are granted, who will have responsibility for ensuring the money is spent in the right way, and finally if such funds are found to have been spent on things they were not meant for, who will be accountable, i.e. where does the buck ultimately stop. DK: Constitutionally, all RLIF resources are reinvested into the game. The RLEF’s principal funding source is the RLIF so, yes, we will receive a part of the profits to reinvest into the game on behalf of the RLIF. A profitable world cup will give the RLIF and its confederations fixed annual budgets from 2014-17, giving the global game an unprecedented opportunity to plan with stability and with strategic focus. Due to the five-year gap since the last world cup, as well as other variables such as exchange rate fluctuations and the economic downturn, the RLEF has received diminishing central funding annually since 2009 yet we have increased our productivity through reducing central costs and raising external income. A fixed annual grant from the RLIF will put us in an even stronger position to continue with our various projects. Our principal focus is on funding federation-wide programmes that we think best serve our strategic objectives, but we give some grants based on activity. For example, this year Latvia played its first 13-a-side club championship and completed its responsibilities in the EU-backed Governance Foundation Project so our Board granted them record funding; while the Czech Republic received higher-than-budget, record grant income due to its GFP completion and a spike in championship activity. To answer your question about responsibility; this is absolutely a governance question. All our members complete an annual membership audit which has been enhanced annually since 2010. That audit includes an internal financial reporting mechanism, for those who do not commission an independent audit, which our finance department analyses. Each NGB is ultimately responsible for its own internal governance, an area which we’ve heavily focused on since 2010 to ensure they realise their own responsibilities as a national governing body. For example, all NGBs must now be legal entities, which means they have administrative and reporting obligations and must adhere to local laws, be tax registered etc. Governance is about setting high organisational standards and we are satisfied that this is something that is happening throughout the membership, but if they misuse their own funds they would be accountable to their own membership who populate their general assembly, elect the board etc. much like the RLEF has a responsibility to its own members. Roger Pulbrook. Are there plans for any sort of European nations cup going forward? Two pools of three (Italy, Wales, Ireland), (Scotland France, Serbia), for instance, and a final featuring the group winners would only take up three weekends at the end of the season. Such an initiative could give a significant boost to the game here in Ireland and elsewhere throughout Europe. DK: We do have a provisional 2014-21 calendar that has been agreed internally and was subject to a month-long consultation. While lots of the members of course had their own specific ideas there was a general consensus that the principles espoused – long-term planning, interlinking competitions and a more Euro-centric positioning – were positive. There are two reasons why this calendar has not yet been formally adopted: firstly, a review of the RFL’s European investment (not RLEF, but specifically WRL, SRL and RLI); and secondly, the continuing discussions surrounding the RLIF calendar, the structure of which will inevitably impact the RLEF’s calendar due to connected competitions like the European Cup and Four Nations. Sterling Wellington. What are the details of the RLEF international calendar that there was talk of running from 2014-2017; is it being formulated and are there going to be more tiers as the numbers of nations participating increases? After the RLWC showing Italy has made, will they have another go at the Euro Cup with the other top nations in Europe? Is there going to be RLEF supported tournaments for nations like Malta, Lebanon, Greece, Hungary, Sweden, Denmark, Latvia (and other Baltic nations), Netherlands and Belgium? I know some of these nations have newly established domestic competitions, but others are RLEF members with robust domestic establishments and they should have the chance to participate. DK: Please see my answer, above, although to be clear our proposed calendar runs until 2021. It does include the option for additional tiers due to the increasing number of countries, yes, as well as options for increasing existing tier competition sizes (as we did in 2010, increasing the Shield from three to four entrants). A key principle of our calendar is stability. We need to be able to offer NGBs the chance to plot their own international destinies by giving them clear indications of the consequences of success and failure on the pitch. The 2013 Shield and Bowl are good examples of this. Ukraine won the latter and can now add 2014-15 Shield into its budget and performance planning. We also need a stable, coherent calendar to approach commercial and broadcast partners with an attractive proposition. So, yes, it’s fair to say that the European Cup is the RLEF’s principal international property and we need to treat it with as much gravitas as the world cup if we’re going to maximise results. Look at its history since 1935 and it’s desultory to say the least. That lack of contiunuity serves no one’s interests. Matt Steele. With so many new sponsors involved in the RLWC2013, has there been a concerted effort to bring them on board for future competitions under the auspices of the RLEF? Plus congrats on securing the new EU grant. DK: The world cup sponsors have signed on just for the world cup. It’s important for us to first agree our own properties before we approach potential sponsors. We have not been able to release our own calendar due to the two main reasons explained above, and when we do we will begin searching for commercial and broadcast partners. You may have noticed a recent advert for a new non-executive director of the RLEF. This new Director will be specifically charged to lead on that project. Thanks for the congratulations about the grant. It’s a massive opportunity for RL and it should see all participants enhancing their competence and RL identity. The EU is without doubt the RLEF’s most important partner now and for the foreseeable future, following the announcement of the Multiannual Financial Framework and the funding catch-all programme known as Erasmus +. Italia Rugby XIII. What is the RLEF thoughts on the ethics of this statement when a organisation does not meet a criteria in various ways: Alfredo (Federazione Italiana Rugby (Union) Presidente) will go to CONI and ask that our application be given the green light, which is massive for us.? DK: We don’t understand your point or question. Please note: this Q&A is an attempt to deal with questions from those with a genuine interest in European RL, and should not be seen as a tool to be used by people who have an agenda. Some of the information reproduced on social media from a user with an apparent link to the rebel Italian group has been a misrepresentation of answers given in this section and a concerted attempt to discredit the RLEF and its members.
Posted on: Sat, 16 Nov 2013 21:58:48 +0000
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