RLIF upbeat about 2008 rugby league showpiece

The 2008 World Cup in Australia will cost an estimated £9.7m but is set to become the most successful, it was claimed today.

Fifteen months away from the start of the Centenary World Cup, the Rugby League International Federation announced they have secured major television rights deals and government support for the staging of matches.

Most of the venues have yet to be confirmed but the RLIF say the 13th World Cup is on course to become the most successful tournament in the 54-year history of the event.

Officials today gave an insight into the event, saying the 10-team tournament will cost an estimated £9.7m to stage, adding that the commercial negotiations to date suggested that the tournament would not only showcase international rugby league but that it would provide a return to the RLIF to grow the game.

The 2000 World Cup in the United Kingdom was widely viewed as a flop and left the Rugby Football League in deep financial trouble.

Officials also rallied behind the appointment of Australian chairman Colin Love as tournament director following criticism of a reported salary of £148,000.

RFL executive chairman Richard Lewis said: “Colin has already done a considerable amount of good work towards the success of the 2008 World Cup.

“He is the key person and the best person to undertake the wide range of negotiating that needs to be done – with state and federal governments, sponsors and television interests.”

NRL chief executive David Gallop said: “Colin should certainly be given enormous credit for the work done these last couple of years.

“To get the tournament to the point it has now reached, where it is shaping as a financially viable and successful operation, is a positive for the Cup and for the game.”

The tournament will kick off in Sydney on October 25 next year, with the hosts taking on New Zealand, and culminate in the final in Brisbane on November 22.