The Rugby League International Federation has issued the following statement on recent events in the UAE:

The RLIF is aware of reports that the President of the Rugby League Commission in the UAE has allegedly been detained in the UAE .The CEO of the RLIF, David Collier OBE, has initiated an urgent investigation into the reports to obtain the full facts relating to this matter in order to determine the appropriate response from RLIF .

Pictured: part of the Emirati newspaper tweet published by the UAE rugby union federation which claims Sol Mokdad, pictured in the photograph, president of the Rugby League Commission in the UAE, has been arrested in a Dubai hotel for posing as the president of the UAE rugby union federation, 'UAE Rugby'.