Sport | Rugby league |
---|---|
Instituted | 2014 |
Number of teams | 8 |
Country | Albania Bulgaria Bosnia and Herzegovina Greece Hungary Serbia Turkey Montenegro (RLEF) |
Holders | Serbia (1st title) |
Most titles | Greece Serbia (1 title) |
The Balkans Cup is a rugby league football tournament for Balkan nations. [1] It was first held in 2014, with Serbia, Greece, Hungary and Bosnia each playing against a random first round opponent, then the losing teams contesting the 3rd place match, and the winning teams battling it out in the Grand Final. Greece were crowned inaugural Balkans Cup winners. [2] The Balkans Cup is contested biennially with four teams and the most recent one was held in 2017, with Bulgaria joining the competition. It is run by the Rugby League European Federation.
In June 2021 there was no Balkan Cup, but Serbia toured Bosnia, Bulgaria and Montenegro, winning all three games.
Year | Host | Winners | Score | Runner–up | Venue | Attendance |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2014 | Serbia | Greece | 50–22 | Serbia | Makiš Stadium | 450 |
2017 | Serbia | Serbia | 50–8 | Greece | Stadion "FK Heroj" | 150 |
2019 | ||||||
The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan states in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan states of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and defeated it, in the process stripping the Ottomans of its European provinces, leaving only Eastern Thrace under the Ottoman Empire's control. In the Second Balkan War, Bulgaria fought against the other four original combatants of the first war. It also faced an attack from Romania from the north. The Ottoman Empire lost the bulk of its territory in Europe. Although not involved as a combatant, Austria-Hungary became relatively weaker as a much enlarged Serbia pushed for union of the South Slavic peoples. The war set the stage for the Balkan crisis of 1914 and thus served as a "prelude to the First World War".
The Balkans, also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the whole of Bulgaria. The Balkan Peninsula is bordered by the Adriatic Sea in the northwest, the Ionian Sea in the southwest, the Aegean Sea in the south, the Turkish straits in the east, and the Black Sea in the northeast. The northern border of the peninsula is variously defined. The highest point of the Balkans is Musala, 2,925 metres (9,596 ft), in the Rila mountain range, Bulgaria.
The League of the Balkans was a quadruple alliance formed by a series of bilateral treaties concluded in 1912 between the Eastern Orthodox kingdoms of Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia and Montenegro, and directed against the Ottoman Empire, which at the time still controlled much of Southeastern Europe.
The Greece national rugby league team represents Greece in rugby league. The team has been participating in international competition since 2003, and have qualified for their first Rugby League World Cup, to be held in 2022.
The Balkans Cup was an international football competition for clubs from Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, Turkey, and Yugoslavia. It was introduced in 1961 and was very popular in the 1960s, being the second most important international club competition for clubs from the region. The competition has been dominated by Bulgaria-based teams. The Bulgarian teams have won together a total number of 9 titles.
Rugby league is a team sport that is relatively new to Greece.
Rugby league is a team sport that is played in Serbia, which now has almost 1000 registered players nationwide, many of which are juniors. Belgrade and Novi Sad are the two main bases for the sport, producing most of the country's players. The most successful Serbian club side are the Dorćol Spiders who have won the most premierships. The other club Red Star Belgrade who defeated Dorćol in the deciding game to claim the minor premiership.
Milovan Đ. Milovanović also Milija Milovanović was a Serbian politician, diplomat, writer and constitutional lawyer, who served as 45th Prime Minister of Serbia.
Aleksandar Tomašević was a Serbian football player and manager.
The Balkan Athletics Championships or Balkan Games is a regional athletics competition held between nations from the Balkans and organized by Balkan Athletics. The first games were held in Athens in 1929, and the most recent were being held in Craiova, Romania, in 2022.
The BVA Cup is a volleyball competition contested by the respective national volleyball championship winning teams of nations in the Balkans. The tournament was founded in 2008 under the auspices of the Balkan Volleyball Association. The founders of the Balkan Volleyball Association are the volleyball federations of Bulgaria, Albania, Turkey, Greece, Serbia, North Macedonia, Croatia, and Romania. The winners of the BVA Cup get the right to play in the CEV Challenge Cup. The tournament is held in September.
The Balkan Cross Country Championships has since 1958 been an annual regional international competition in cross country running amongst athletes from the Balkans. It forms part of the Balkan Games, the latter an event to encourage the relations amongst the participating nations surrounding the Mediterranean Sea and it traces its history back to 1940. There were no races in 2010). It is organised by the Association of the Balkan Athletics Federations
The 2014 Balkans Cup was a rugby league football tournament that was held in Serbia between 17 October and 19 October. The winner won the inaugural Balkans Cup Trophy.
The Bosnia national rugby league team represents Bosnia and Herzegovina in the sport of rugby league football and have been participating in international competition since 2014.
Rugby league is played in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which now has over 1000 registered players nationwide, many of which are juniors. These numbers are rapidly increasing each year.
Rugby union in Montenegro is a minor but growing sport. The game has only recently been developed in the country since its independence in 2006. The governing body is the Montenegrin Rugby Union which was accepted as a member of Rugby Europe at the 2014 convention held in Split, Croatia. It is not yet affiliated with World Rugby but is applying for membership.
The Bulgaria national rugby league team represents Bulgaria in the sport of rugby league football, having made their international debut at the 2017 Balkans Cup against Greece and Serbia in October 2017.
The Balkan Super League is a rugby league football competition for clubs in the Balkans region of Europe. The competition operates in addition to the national leagues of the respective nations as a Champions League-style competition, with some clubs holding licences to compete annually, like the EuroLeague. As of 2022 clubs from Serbia, Greece, Turkey, Albania, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Italy and Montenegro have competed.
The following is a list of results for the Greece national rugby league team since their first match in 2003, where they defeated New Caledonia 26–10. They have played 29 matches, winning 20 and losing nine. Their most recent result was an 82–6 win against Serbia.
The 2017 Balkans Cup was a rugby league football tournament that was held in Serbia between October 6 and October 10, 2017.