The 2013 Rugby League World Cup will be held in the United Kingdom. The decision was made at a meeting of the Rugby League International Federation in Singapore to discuss the future of the international calendar.

Australia also submitted a bid to stage the event again after the success of the 2008 tournament, but perhaps it was to soon as the last time it was in the UK was 2000. There will be a one year delay to avoid a clash with the 2012 Olympics in London.

Richard Lewis, the deputy chairman of the RLIF and executive chairman of the Rugby Football League, said: (quote) It is a great boost for rugby league in the northern hemisphere to secure the World Cup in 2013. I thought that the 2008 tournament was an outstanding success and our goal is to build on that success and to deliver a profitable tournament that further enhances the international prestige of rugby league.(end quote)

Although the RFL says the matches will be focussed around the game’s heartland areas in the north of England, it is speaking to various agencies about the possibility of staging games in London, Wales and Scotland.

The RLIF also agreed that in future, there will be no Four Nations tournament staged in the year prior to a World Cup with Test schedules between nations being developed.

The 2009 and 2011 Four Nations will be staged in England with both Australia and New Zealand hosting it in 2010 and Australia the next hosts after the World Cup in 2014.

The event would be an integral part of the so-called “golden decade” of sport in the UK, along with the 2012 Olympics in London, the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, the 2015 Rugby World Cup and also the 2018 football World Cup, which the Football Association is hopeful of bringing to English soil.