Rugby league-Champions Australia, NZ withdraw from World Cup citing welfare, safety concerns

The Australian Rugby League Commission (ARLC) and New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) said they had repeated a request to organisers to postpone the Oct. 23-Nov. 27 event until 2022 to "minimise risk of players contracting COVID-19". "The decision to withdraw from the RLWC2021 comes after considering the risk of COVID-19 infection in the United Kingdom, the worsening environment in Australia and the time a majority of NRL (National Rugby League) players will spend away from home under strict biosecurity conditions prior to the World Cup," they said in a joint statement.

Defending champions Australia and New Zealand withdrew from the Rugby League World Cup in England on Thursday, citing player welfare and safety concerns amid the COVID-19 pandemic in a massive blow for the sport's global showpiece. The Australian Rugby League Commission (ARLC) and New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) said they had repeated a request to organisers to postpone the Oct. 23-Nov. 27 event until 2022 to "minimise risk of players contracting COVID-19".

"The decision to withdraw from the RLWC2021 comes after considering the risk of COVID-19 infection in the United Kingdom, the worsening environment in Australia and the time a majority of NRL (National Rugby League) players will spend away from home under strict biosecurity conditions prior to the World Cup," they said in a joint statement. Organisers said they were informed at "very short notice" and would continue discussions with stakeholders to agree on the best way forward.

"RLWC2021 note the disappointing statement made by the ARLC and NZRL which may have wide ranging implications for international Rugby League," organisers said in a statement. COVID-19 infections are increasing in the UK https://graphics.reuters.com/world-coronavirus-tracker-and-maps/countries-and-territories/united-kingdom, with 47,114 new infections reported on average each day. The UK has recorded 5.5 million confirmed cases and 128,896 total deaths, according to a Reuters tally.

Australia is also battling outbreaks of COVID-19 albeit on a much smaller scale. Around 13 million people, or half the country's population, are under strict lockdown. Australia's 'Kangaroos' have dominated the World Cup for decades, winning eight out of the last nine editions dating back to the 1970s.

New Zealand, whose top players also compete in the NRL, won the 2008 World Cup hosted by Australia. Australian and New Zealand media reported in recent weeks that both nations had cold feet about sending teams to England, with concerns about players having to spend another two weeks in hotel quarantine upon returning home.

Most NRL players are already living away from home, with the league moving teams to northern Queensland state to escape COVID-19 outbreaks and lockdowns further south. "They would then be required to remain under (COVID) protocols and away from home for the duration of the tournament before again quarantining on return to Australia," ARLC chairman Peter V'landys said.

"This is too much to ask our players and officials to do." NZRL boss Greg Peters said the safety and wellbeing of their staff and players could not be guaranteed to their "satisfaction".

"There are stark differences between how the pandemic is being managed in the UK compared to Australasia and recent developments have highlighted how quickly things can change," he said. Australia has sent more than 400 athletes to the Tokyo Olympics and a large squad of cricketers and staff to the Caribbean for a white ball tour of the West Indies in recent weeks.

England hosted the final of soccer's European Championship against winners Italy at Wembley earlier this month and hundreds of tennis players and officials at Wimbledon. With over two-third of adults having received two vaccine shots, England ended over a year of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions on Monday, marking a new chapter in the response to the global health crisis.

(Additional reporting by Manasi Pathak in Bengaluru; Editing by Hugh Lawson & Simon Cameron-Moore)