Rugby league in Russia

Last updated

Rugby league in Russia
CountryRussia
Governing bodyAssociation of Rugby League Clubs
National team(s) Russia
Nickname(s)the Bears
First played1989
Registered players2,000+ [1]
National competitions
Rugby League World Cup
Rugby League European Championship B
Club competitions
Russian Championship
Russian Conferences

Rugby league is a team sport in Russia. The Russian Association of Rugby League Clubs (ARLK) is the governing body of rugby league in Russia. After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the International Rugby League and European Rugby League banned Russia from all international rugby league competitions. [2]

Contents

History

A Soviet delegation attended Dewsbury's 1973 English Championship win and suggested that exhibition games be held in Eastern Europe to gauge interest.[ citation needed ]

Rugby league returned in the late 1980s. Early success for Russian rugby league came in the form of one of the Locomotive Rugby Football Club's junior team of 1987 which was sent to England to compete in a series of matches. Maslov and his friend and President of the Russian Rugby Union, Edgar Taturyan, formed the RRFL. [3]

Russian Rugby Football League

In May 1991, York and Fulham RLFC toured Russia. [4]

Challenge Cup history

Kazan Arrows and Moscow Locomotive in December 2001 became the first Russian teams to feature in the Rugby Football League Challenge Cup. Since 2001 Russian clubs have travelled to England to take part in the tournament.[ citation needed ]

Cross roads of 2005

Despite all that happened early in the year, the RRFL went ahead with its annual championship, including the youth world cup, which was thought by many not to go ahead.[ citation needed ]

2022: ban

After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the International Rugby League and European Rugby League banned Russia from all international rugby league competitions. [2]

Competitions until 2008

Russian Championship

The Russian Championship (or Russian Super League or Championship of Russia) consisted of 6 teams in the 2008 season:

Dinamo Moscow and St Petersburg Nevskaya Zastava started the season but failed to complete it. Saint Petersburg Lesteh and Volgodonsk Navy-Sphere entered the cup but did not participate in any league.[ citation needed ]

Championship NFRR-13 Premier League

Major League Major League teams are divided into groups on a geographical basis

Challenge Cup

Two teams each year took part in the Rugby League Challenge Cup, along with four teams from France including Les Catalans, although the Challenge Cup is not considered a 'European Cup', more a domestic competition in the UK that invites these teams into the early rounds.[ citation needed ] However Russian teams have not played in the Challenge Cup since 2009 due to the funding crisis in Russian Rugby League, and their being banned in 2022.[ citation needed ]

Crisis of 2009 and 2010

Olympic status of Rugby Union Sevens and the expulsion of Rugby League from the State Register of Sports of Russia

By mid-2009 the three major clubs of Russian Rugby League had moved over to Rugby Union as a result of government pressure to achieve results in rugby union sevens, newly designated as an Olympic sport.[ citation needed ] These clubs were Kazan Arrows, Dinamo Moscow and the champions for the past eight years, Lokomotiv Moscow. [5] [6]

Russian Ministry of Sports order number 21 dated 20 January 2010 expelled the Rugby League from the State Register of Sports of Russia. [7] The reasoning for the expulsion was reportedly due to the Ministry's view that Rugby League was not a separate sport from rugby union. [8]

In February a new president of the RRLF was elected, Alexander Eremin. Eremin, the board members and employees of the RRLF are investigating the potential for the continuation of Rugby League in Russia with various government, civic and sports organizations, in particular the Ministry of Sports and Rugby Union of Russia. [7]

After the turmoil of the RRLF losing clubs and players, Edward Taturian caused a split with the Rugby League Federation, to potentially form an Association of Rugby League Clubs.[ citation needed ]

The Association of Rugby League Clubs of Russia (ARLKR)

2010 began with no clear framework or competition, within this context the old figurehead Taturyan established the Association of Rugby League Clubs of Russia (ARLKR) seemingly independent of the RRLF.[ citation needed ] The following clubs joined the ARLKR association: [5] [6]

  1. Nevsky Gate
  2. Vereyskaya Bears
  3. Threshers
  4. North Moscow
  5. Nara
  6. Otradnoe
  7. Spartak-Losinka.

(In 1991, Taturian, the former coach of the Soviet Rugby team, split from the Russian rugby union and took over some teams to found the Russian Rugby League. The game grew and became known as the Russian Rugby League Federation.) [6]

Current domestic competition

Rugby league is now played domestically in conferences. North, Central and South. At the conclusion of each conference's fixtures, the top teams enter into the national championship.[ citation needed ]

Media

Starting in 2009 NTV Plus Sport broadcasts live rugby league matches from the Super League competition. [9]

The national team

The Russian Bears represent Russia in international rugby league tournaments and other rugby league fixtures.[ citation needed ]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FC Dynamo Kyiv</span> Professional association football club based in Kyiv, Ukraine

Football Club Dynamo Kyiv, also known as FC Dynamo Kiev, Dynamo Kyiv, Dynamo Kiev, or simply Dynamo, is a Ukrainian professional football club based in Kyiv. Founded in 1927 as a Kyivan football team of republican branch of the bigger Soviet Dynamo Sports Society, the club as a separate business entity was officially formed only in 1989 and currently plays in the Ukrainian Premier League, and has never been relegated to a lower division. The club has secured brand rights from the Ukrainian Dynamo society and has no direct relations to the sports society since 1989. Their home is the 70,050 capacity Olimpiyskiy National Sports Complex.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Football in Russia</span>

Association football is the most popular sport in Russia, beating ice hockey by a huge margin. Men's football is overseen by the Russian Football Union, having the Russian Premier League as the first tier of the Russian football league system, with the Russian Football National League being the second tier.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Russia national rugby league team</span>

The Russia national rugby league team, nicknamed The Bears, represents Russia in international rugby league tournaments and other rugby league fixtures. The Bears, played their first fixtures against two British club sides: York Wasps and Fulham RLFC. In 2013, Russia became a full member of the Rugby League International Federation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Russian Premier League</span> Russian national top division professional association football league

The Russian Premier League, also written as Russian Premier Liga, is the top division professional association football league in Russia. It was established at the end of 2001 as the Russian Football Premier League and was rebranded with its current name in 2018. From 1992 through 2001, the top level of the Russian football league system was the Russian Football Championship.

The Soviet Top League, known after 1970 as the Higher League, served as the top division (tier) of Soviet Union football from 1936 until 1991. The league's name was a conditional designation used for brevity since being completely owned and governed by the Football Federation of the Soviet Union. The full official name was the USSR Championship in football: Top League. An attempt to create an independent league as autonomously governed organization during "perestroika" period was denied by the Federation due to political culture in the Soviet Union.

RC Lokomotiv Moscow is a professional Russian rugby football club based in Moscow, which from 2010 will field teams in both rugby league and rugby union. The club is one of the oldest in Russia. Originally a club for those who worked on the railways, they participated in the first USSR rugby union championship in 1937. Lokomotiv were Soviet Championship winners in 1983. During the existence of the USSR, RC Lokomotiv Moscow club was a part of the Lokomotiv Voluntary Sports Society.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rugby union in Russia</span>

Rugby union in Russia is a moderately popular sport. Russia was in 2011 ranked 20th worldwide by the World Rugby, having over three hundred clubs and close to 22,000 players nationally. Russian Rugby Championship is the top-level professional competition held in Russia. Krasnoyarsk, in the middle of Siberia, is traditionally the heartland of Russian rugby.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rugby union in Georgia</span>

Rugby union in Georgia is a popular team sport. Rugby union is considered one of the most popular sports in Georgia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BC UNICS</span> Professional basketball club in Kazan, Russia

BC UNICS is a professional basketball club in Kazan, Russia, that plays in the VTB United League, and formerly played in the EuroLeague. On February 28, 2022, EuroLeague Basketball suspended the team because of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Kazan Arrows, sometimes called Strela Kazan, are a rugby league and rugby union club from Kazan, Tatarstan in Russia. They were formed in 1989 and play in the Russian Championship, the top-tier of rugby league in Russia. Since late 2009 they have decided to run their senior team as a rugby union team

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sport in Europe</span>

Sport in Europe tends to be highly organized with many sports having professional leagues. The origins of many of the world's most popular sports today lie in the codification of many traditional games, especially in the United Kingdom. However, a paradoxical feature of European sport is the extent to which local, regional and national variations continue to exist, and even in some instances to predominate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Russian Rugby League Federation</span>

Russian Rugby League Federation was the governing body for rugby league in Russia until 2010. It was founded in 1978 mainly as a governing body for Moscow-based teams, and became the head body for all of Russia in 1986. The Russian Rugby League Federation became affiliated to the Rugby League International Federation in 1993. In 2003 the Russia became a full test nation in rugby league.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sport in Russia</span>

The most popular sport in Russia is soccer. According to Yandex search analysis results rating of the most popular sports among Russians: "Football topped the list of the most popular sports in Russia" with 5 to 10 million requests. Ice hockey came in second with handball, basketball, futsal, boxing, auto racing, volleyball, athletics, tennis, and chess rounding out the top ten rankings. Other popular sports include bandy, biathlon, figure skating, weightlifting, gymnastics, wrestling, martial arts, rugby union, and skiing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dynamo Sports Club</span> Sports club founded in the Soviet Union

"Dynamo", also Dinamo, is a sports and fitness society created in 1923 in the Soviet Union. The society was an association of multi-sport clubs whose members were drawn from the NKVD and, after World War II, the MVD and the KGB. With the Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe after World War II, similar Dynamo societies were established throughout the Eastern Bloc, such as SV Dynamo.

The 1936 Soviet football championship was the first season conducted between teams of sports societies and factories. It was also the seventh in order of primary football competitions in the Soviet Union since 1923. It was a major transition from a previous season which involved participation of teams representing cities and republics composed of better players of that city or republics teams. The decision about conducting the first Soviet championship among teams of sports societies and factories was adopted by the All-Union Council of Physical Culture (VSFK) of the Soviet Union Central Executive Committee. On 21 June 1936 the VSFK was liquidated and replaced with the All-Union Committee of Physical Culture and Sports (VKFKS) of the Soviet Union Sovnarkom.

Ekaterina Ulanova is a Russian volleyball player. She competed for the Russia women's national volleyball team in the 2008 and the 2012 Summer Olympics. She also won the gold medal at the 2014 FIVB Club World Championship, playing with Dinamo Kazan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nataliya Goncharova (volleyball)</span> Russian volleyball player

Nataliya Olegovna Goncharova, from 2012 to 2016 Obmochaeva, is a Russian volleyball player. She played for the Ukraine women's national volleyball team until 2010 when she became part of the Russia women's national volleyball team.

The Association of Rugby League Clubs is the governing body for rugby league in Russia. The association was formed in 2010, bringing together amateur clubs and regional RRLF clubs after the expulsion of the Russian Rugby League Federation and essentially rugby league itself by the Order of the Ministry of Tourism RUSSIA № 21 from State Register of Sports of Russia.

The Russian Volleyball Federation is the governing body of volleyball in Russia; although existing since 1991, it is the prosecutor of the pre-existing Soviet volleyball federation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Volleyball in Russia</span>

Volleyball is one of the most oldest team sports practiced in Russia. The Russian Volleyball Federation is the Official governing body for this sport After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the International Volleyball Federation stripped Russia of hosting the men's World Cup in August 2022.

References

  1. "Новости Регби Федерация Регбилиг Россия". Archived from the original on 15 April 2014.
  2. 1 2 "Russia banned from international rugby league competitions". Halifaxcourier.co.uk. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
  3. "Russian Rugby League Results & Tables". Rugbyleagueinternationalscores.com. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  4. "History of York Rugby League". Yorkcityknights.com. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
  5. 1 2 Rugby League World June 2010 pages 62–66
  6. 1 2 3 "Russian rugby league at crisis point 15 March 2010". Theroar.com.au. Retrieved 4 April 2010.
  7. 1 2 "RRLF Website Press release 05 February 2010". Translate.google.com. Retrieved 4 April 2010.
  8. "Rugby League Planet - Russian Rugby League comrade's need a hand". Archived from the original on 24 July 2014. Retrieved 6 July 2014.
  9. http://www.therfl.co.uk/clientdocs/European%20Federation%20Newsletter%20February%202009.pdf [ dead link ]