South Africa Rugby League has received a major boost in their hopes of attracting the 2017 Rugby League World Cup with confirmation that Steeden SA will support the bid.

The company has made a commitment to SARL for the next five years to supply the national teams with kit and linked to the deal is a comprehensive licensing and merchandising agreement which will them as the official licensee of all 2017 World Cup merchandise if the bid is successful.

Jaque van der Merwe from the company commented, “Steeden SA is synonymous with success and quality. We are committed to the sport in the coming years.”

Today (Friday), in the lead up to the opening of the 2013 Rugby League World Cup, Chris Botes from SARL will attend the Rugby League International Federation Annual General Meeting in Cardiff as the formal process to decide the venue for the next tournament gets underway.

South Africa will come up against a combined bid from Australia and New Zealand.

SARL President Kobus Botha commented, “A World Cup in South Africa makes more sense when you look at the bigger picture of where rugby league is globally. Have it here and it will add more than half a million players and more than five million supporters to the global game.”

Botes, part of the Bid Project Team, is confident. “South Africa’s bid should not be seen as only one World Cup but as a concentrated effort to develop and spread the sport, not only locally, but also into Africa, the Middle East, the America’s as well as Northern Africa,” he said.

“That is why we included an Emerging Nations event as part of a Festivals of World Cups.” SARL are also proposing to pay any competing nation to attend the main World Cup.

The final bid document needs to be submitted by the 18th November to the RLIF Bid Panel, and the presentations will be made in the lead up to the World Cup final at Old Trafford at the end of November.

Ian Riley, who has extensive experience having been Technical Director on the 2006 FIFA World Cup Bid for South Africa, the 2010 FIFA World Cup Bid for South Africa, the 2011 IRB Bid for South Africa, the 2018 FIFA World Cup Bid for England and the 2012 Olympic Bid has been appointed as Bid Director.

Riley was key in getting the Department of Sport and Recreation to step in and assist with the formal processes of gaining government recognition and support for rugby league in the country.

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