Lebanese rugby league continues to grow

In 2000, a group of Australians gathered together to plot the introduction of Lebanon into the world rugby league stage.

Their plan to have a team of Australians with Lebanese backgrounds compete in the World Cup of that year was, to the horror of the purists, a diabolical one.

Ridiculed by the purists who mocked the notion of having a Lebanese national team made up of Australians, the newly formed Cedars qualified for the 2000 World Cup by defeating Japan, Morocco, Italy and the USA.

Not exactly powerhouses of the game but once in, the Cedars showed their mettle. Despite a touch up by league superpower New Zealand, the Cedars came back to be narrowly edged out by Wales before earning a hard fought last-minute draw against the Cook Islands.

The International Rugby League Federation’s agreement to allow Lebanon to compete was based on the proviso that a fully fledged and legitimate domestic league be set up in Lebanon.

It was, and so began the Cedar sporting revolution.

Since that time, the Lebanese rugby league has grown from zero knowledge, players and results to Lebanon now being a Full Member of the International Rugby League Federation.

Lebanon now has several hundred registered players competing in both the country’s domestic Bank of Beirut Rugby League Championship and its Shield Championship, and is the proud holder of an international trophy cabinet featuring the 1999, 2002, 2003 and 2004 Mediterranean Cups and the 2006 Phoenician Cup.

Statistically, Lebanon’s national team, the Cedars, have been very successful on the world stage.

While they cannot compare with the top tier nations, they have amassed a number of titles with victories over France, Wales, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Russia and Serbia.

This international success contains one rather interesting oddity though.

Lebanon has the rather opaque distinction of missing out on the last two World Cups despite only losing a single match in all of their qualifying rounds.

Their only loss, in fact, was the last qualifying match against Samoa in 2007…

The country has not been idle in developing its youth either.

The Liban Espoir, the national youth team has toured Morocco, England, Wales, Cyprus, Serbia and broke new ground by playing the first ever rugby league match in the United Arab Emirates.

In the background, the Lebanese Rugby League Federation’s domestic competitions have had their share of history making.

In the 2008-2009 season, the undefeated minor premiers the Lebanese American University Immortals (LAU) were run down 30-28 by the Jounieh al-Galacticos who scored in the 79th minute to secure back-to-back grand final victories.

The following season, the Immortals rebounded from their tragic loss to Jounieh by completing the perfect season, running out grand final winners 40-15 over the American University of Beirut team.

The Immortals shook off the cobwebs after trailing at the break 11-10, the first time that season that the club had not lead at half-time.

The following year, league newcomers, the Tripoli City Kings toppled the Immortals 24-14 to win the title in their début season.

Tripoli has made a habit of playing good quality football when it counts most, often featuring midway down the ladder before clicking into gear when semi-final football survival is on the line.

That rugby league is thriving in Lebanon is in no small part due the scheming vision of a group of men who were told, over a decade ago, that they couldn’t. History showed that they did and the rugby league world is better off for it.

Let’s hope that there are many more rugby league stories like Lebanon’s.