Rugby league should consider changing its name to avoid confusion with rugby union, according to the man who spent 13 days in jail as a result of just such a misunderstanding.
On Thursday your correspondent embarked on the six-and-a-half hour round-trip from London to Exeter in south-west England to meet Sol Mokdad – the 30-year-old Lebanese national who was recently arrested for promoting league in the United Arab Emirates.
Mokdad, raised in an expatriate enclave of Saudi Arabia, fled Dubai after signing a grovelling apology written for him by UAE Rugby, who have appointed their own rugby league body and with whom the Rugby League International Federation seems intent on doing business.
Asked if rugby union authorities should be allowed to run rugby league competitions, which is what UAE Rugby claims the right to do, Mokdad said, “Definitely not.
“What we are seeing with the rebranding of the IRB to World Rugby is that they are trying to take over rugby worldwide just by name.
“We are an independent sport and that’s why I raised the question on Twitter of whether we should rebrand ourselves as a sport.
“There’s a lot of history behind it and I’ve only been involved for the last 10 or 12 years. There were a lot of passionate people saying we shouldn’t (do that), that that is our heritage.
“But times have changed. I think World Rugby are miles ahead at the moment. It just comes down to how we position ourselves and how we want to move forward.
“In my case, the first thing I did was jump on the constitution of UAE Rugby and they have no right to run rugby league and I don’t think rugby league people want rugby union people running two codes.”
Rugby union authorities in Italy also claim to run rugby league competitions while the national union competition in the US is known as the National Rugby League.
In the next instalment of ‘Far and Wide 360′, the monthly segment on Fox Sports’ NRL 360, Mokdad will talk about the immediate circumstances surrounding his arrest and conditions in prison.
Mokdad has read most of what has been written about him in the rugby league press and on social media since his arrest, and has been humbled by the support he received.
In answer to criticism over his failure to have the sport recognised in the UAE, he said he had been advised by the General Authority of Youth and Sports to continue playing the sport before having it recognised.
Furthermore, he says an official entrusted with winning government recognition had failed to do so and resigned when he was jailed.
“The international federation needs to understand you can’t leave it up to individuals – especially non-nationals – to try and develop the sport without any financial support,” he said.
“(RLIF chief executive) David Collier is going to have a real hard time trying to get government recognition there because it’s all about saving face.”
He denied the grounds he used were rugby union fields.
“They’re private property. The AFL uses it, the touch football uses it. It’s just ridiculous these claims.”
And he said the sponsorship proposals the likes of Nissan, which were the centre of the fraud allegations against him, clearly made the distinction between the codes.
Mokdad has given up on the game in the UAE following his incarceration and is currently looking for employment prospects in English league.
Tricky Ricky
Guest
Stick to soccer Mascord. It's more your game.
Paul
Guest
Interesting point on the word/change around soccer and maybe a few lessons if League were ever to consider a name change; soccer as a word is slang derived from the word association and is attributed to English universities as early as the late 1800's and yet, despite its slang use for more than a century and it's direct association with the sport, the word itself was never really accepted as appropriate in many quarters even here in Australia so there's perhaps a lesson there.
chris hawley
Guest
Yes, we need to change the name. Rugby Union now is taking over, and yes it is confusing with FB pages calling it world rugby. 99% of the world don't know the difference. So, what should we do? We should use this as a fantastic opportunity to relaunch our game. Changing the name also brings about a lot of publicity, tv interviews, awareness etc. But we need a name that is easy to remember in all languages and that also refletcs the speed and skill of our game, something that Union really lacks and is dire need of. League is a fast, tough, skillful, contact sport. we need a new name that shows that. A name that inspires! MMA is easy to remember, so is NRL. So is UFC, and Judo, Karate as well. We need something catchy and dynamic. The word "try" is also not very dynamic. A lot of things could be changed. We should use the word "goal". Why not? It's easy to remeber for anyone outside the UK, and easy to pronounce. People understand what it signifies..the objective, the goal. Why not call the game by the name of one of its most famous host cities? Leeds? Sydney? Wigan? Manchester? Hull? "What do you play?"..."Oh I love playing Hull!" or " I play Sydney" . Sydney, as a city, already generates plenty of worldwide publicity, so why not jump on the bandwagon and then everytime Sydney is in the news, so is our beloved game., But if anyone has any better suggestions, then lets go for it! This is a golden oppportunity to relaunch our game! Chris
Russell Johnson
Guest
Please don't confuse the facts with the pretext, Steve !
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
Rugby league!!! A game that was supposed to die in the 90s ,become no3 in the 2000s in Australia.And expecting a crowd up to 90,000 tomorrow night.Try that for your starting point.
Dean - Surry Hills
Guest
What is Rugby Union? Answer that first, and you'll be on your way to answering your own question.
Mike
Guest
What is rugby league?
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
I was replying to an obvious AFL fan GoGWS who was taking a swipe at rugby league,you overlooked that fact.As the resident thread patrol man you should have noticed that. You gave the expected and predictable tired response. Mandy Rice Davies once noted,"of course he would say that" If ever rugby league starts rewarding mediocrity just to keep the score board ticking over, I will give it away
Birdy
Guest
I think I might look for that book 'the forbidden game' and while I'm at it I'll order a French RL jumper with 13 on it symbolising the last resistance against the Vichy . Ah I can feel the attacks now.
Birdy
Guest
That's why I like Dave Smith, I think he knows what's ahead.
GoGWS
Roar Guru
How about "Rugby 5"? The five obviously standing for the number of times a team repeats the 10-20m shuffle forward into three stationary tacklers before sending up a speculator. Rinse and repeat. It is RL's defying characteristic - the only game in the world where you don't need to win possession of the ball; you're just handed possession because the other team has had too many plays. And therein lies the fundamental problem that even those who love RL are trying to solve - boring patterns of play where teams just run the ball up five times and then kick. Give me fumbleball over '5 tackles and a kick' any day.
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
Punching and shoulder charges are out of the game,so can't call it that. Could call it fumbleball,.No !, possession is vital,anyhow that's been taken. I got it ,why not: National Razzle League RAZZLE: To celebrate or enjoy oneself.
Russell Johnson
Guest
Birdy, when will you learn? Synchronised swimming, then snail races, then tiddlywinks, then traffic lights and paint drying then and only then if you're completely at a loss and there's not some tedious talent, reality show and or soap then Vichy v Vichy ....... I can do you a diagram if this is still not clear! We need a few people with real understanding of the market and a couple of real visionaries to chase our sport forward the change of name could be an option but it would only be a minute part of what needs doing!
Russell Johnson
Guest
Yes that's right it's France and they favour yawn what is your point about? L'Equipe ignored RL completely for close on 50 years and only bothered to mention it at all when yawn went professional and it was in the ascendant! Now tell me something I don't know about RL, funny onion and sporting trickery in France! Change the name!
Russell Johnson
Guest
Mike T if we give out all that information we couldn't trust union not to go along and get them arrested! I have never queried yawn figures for anything anywhere ever. When will you younion apologists, scallywags, ne'er do wells and propagandists get something right? We don't want to know about yawn, we never have wanted to know about yawn and we never will want to know about yawn. It's an irrelevance, a shifty 56th cousin twice removed, and at best the diseased ridden black sheep who's only good for a mention at parties and funerals when the banter dries up and Aunty's moved on to spirits. And even then you come after synchronised swimming and snail races. And we don't care if 9 billion stupid people turn up to those events either. As to the name change " GET IT DONE QUICK!" anything is better than answering the drivel of the excitement challenged. Birdy, thanks for the support but I think that's got to be it. TBPH It's not even these imbeciles that annoy me it's the RL people who don't realise what we're up against and what's going on. Funnyonion isn't a conspiracy ( though some of the things they get up to do appear that way) It's simply a competitor but one that plays the game according to rules when it has to and breaks them when it feels it's necessary - in market terms they know what they're doing as a product and in a world market. For RL to compete across the world you need a recognisably different product and that takes real acumen. Vichy has a rubbish game which shows how important marketing is; RL has a great product but can't be bothered to let anyone know.
Poncho
Guest
Thugby league?
DB
Guest
For Aussie Rules down here in Vic most say 'football' or 'footy'
Birdy
Guest
RJ , Hope your not serous. Your last post on the roar. Resignation not accepted .
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
Safety in numbers ! Why the hell did i not think of that before.The more the merrier(sober of course).
Russell Johnson
Guest
Yoda Good to see you start as you always mean (being the operative word here!) to go on! Any thoughts on the thread? Wasn't hiding Yoda just prefer the company on here a bit of honesty is never lost on me although it does seem to be an endangered species everywhere on't web ! Take a look at leaguetryscorer got to be a friend of yours! If not I'd follow "her" on facebook if I were you so much shared stuff. But for your information this is my last post anywhere on the web because yoonion is too astute for RL and RL refuses stoically to fight its own corner - so no point in posting because the support is simply not there - just Rag, Tag and Bobtail!