The second edition of the MENA Championship will take place later this month in Morocco, as rugby league embarks upon its latest attempt to embed itself in the North African kingdom that has often been seen as fertile ground for the sport. Lebanon will play Morocco XIII in a two-match series in Casablanca and will be looking to retain the trophy the Cedars won in controversial circumstances in October, when the BARA side withdrew from the second match following an off-the-field disciplinary incident.
Morocco has flirted with rugby league since the mid-1990s but has never had a governing body au sol marocain. Former London Crusader Hussen M’Barki’s operation saw a Morocco team play in a flurry of international tournaments in 1995-6 without developing the sport in the former French colony. The birth of the game in Lebanon saw a re-birth of the Moroccan representative side, participating in the 2003 and 2004 Mediterranean Cups (pictured, above) where French-based players wowed the crowds with their speed, audacity and skill.
An Avignon-based group then picked up the Moroccan flag, playing a clutch of representative matches – one in Catalonia, the others in France – but again without exporting the game to Morocco. The appetite for a genuinely Moroccan operation has led to an entirely different approach. For several months now the RLEF MENA department has been working with stakeholders in Casablanca, training Moroccan technical staff in London, consulting with both the Moroccan Ministry of Youth and Sport and the EU about the foundation of a credible Moroccan Rugby League based entirely in the Maghreb.
One of the men involved in the project is Mustapha Jedoual, the president and founder of the Berrechid rugby league club on the outskirts of Casa. “We are faced with many challenges if we are to realise our great passion – rugby league in our nation,” he said. “Nevertheless, our goal is to create a Moroccan rugby league federation, legally mandated and structured, with the ability to run a national championship and other competitions...in time we’ll become members of the RLEF. This is one of our principal objectives for the months and years to come.”
Lebanon’s visit will be its second, marking a return to the original destination of a local Lebanese side, following Liban Espoir’s 2003 tour, which saw them lose both matches heavily. This year, the visitors will be more prepared, and will be led by the Fédération Française de Rugby à 13’s performance chief, Thierry Dumaine. The Carcassonnais is part of a revamped Lebanese technical staff whose primary involvement will be to oversee the Lebanese squad, while also assessing the possibilities the sport has in Morocco.
“I’m very happy with this appointment,” said Dumaine. “For me it’s an honour to join the Cedars coaching staff. I will give my best as a coach to help the Cedars win the MENA Championship in Morocco and follow their step forwards until October’s world cup qualification. I have already been working for about a month with the LRLF by email and phone and I’m very excited to join the players on 19 June for a one week camp in Lebanon before the tour.”