New Zealand Rugby boss doesn’t rule out Qatari bid for Nations Championship
Friday, 3 May 2024
Qatar has reportedly bid to host rugby’s Nations Championship when it starts in 2026.
New Zealand Rugby chief executive Mark Robinson did not dismiss the prospect of the game’s newest global tournament heading to the Middle East.
The Nations Championship will be held every two years and feature tests between northern and southern hemisphere teams.
Rugby could soon be entering the lucrative but controversial realm of the Middle East’s grab of major sports.
New Zealand Rugby chief executive Mark Robinson did not dismiss the prospect after a report from the UK that rugby’s Nations Championship could be held in Qatar.
World Rugby’s newest global men’s competition is due to start in 2026 with 12 sides, including the Six Nations (England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, Wales), the four Rugby Championship teams (the All Blacks, Argentina, Australia, South Africa) and most likely Fiji and Japan.
The Daily Mail has reported that Qatar has bid to hosts the finals of the tournament with an offer of up to £800 million (NZ$1.68 billion) over eight years.
It’s a staggering figure for rugby but relatively standard for Middle Eastern states such as Qatar and Saudi Arabia, which are continuing to throw enormous sums of money to stage sports events.
If the deal went ahead with rugby, it would follow the global trend labelled sportswashing by human rights campaigners. Qatar and Saudi Arabia have been accused of using the hosting and sponsoring of sports events and teams to try to enhance its reputation after reported human rights violations.
NZ Rugby boss Robinson, speaking at Friday’s media stand-up at the union’s Auckland office, was coy and declined to comment on details of the reported Qatari bid, but he did not deny it.
“It is a really strong signal for the future of that competition. We are seeing more interest build around that concept from 2026 onwards,” Robinson said.
The Nations Championship’s format will see northern and southern hemisphere teams clash before a grand final between the top two sides decides the overall winner. It’s not yet clear how or when Qatar could stages matches in test rugby’s calendar.
Robinson said the rugby world “is opening up” and cited NZ Rugby’s developing partnerships with Japan and the United States, where the All Blacks are playing Fiji in San Diego in July.
“We are a small country and relatively isolated, so we think that having stronger connections with other parts of the world, where there are new fan bases, is really important as well,” he said.
“I’m not going to talk about the speculation of this week, but we are always looking at ways we can connect into different markets and what possibilities are there. It’s more than simply commercial.”
Qatar’s biggest sports tournament to date was the Gulf kingdom’s hosting of the Fifa men’s World Cup in 2022. Saudi Arabia has been involved in staging other events such as golf, boxing, motorsport, tennis and an America’s Cup regatta.
It’s no surprise that rugby might be next. Qatar also bid to host the 2025 Rugby League World Cup.
The huge money on the table could be too good for the game to turn down. The Daily Mail report that the final decision on the Qatari bid will fall on the unions from the Six Nations and Sanzaar, which includes NZ Rugby.
Once underway, the Nations Championship will be staged every two years and the 12 teams will meet in the regular July and November test windows.
Another 12-team competition for the second tier of international teams is also due to start alongside the Nations Championship in 2026. Promotion and relegation between the two tournaments could become a feature in later editions.
They won’t clash directly with the men’s Rugby World Cups, with the next in Australia in 2027, then the United States in 2031.