Festival of World Cups
Collection of rugby league world cups
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The Festival of World Cups is a collection of rugby league world cups usually held as a support series alongside the centrepiece Men's, Women's, and Wheelchair tournaments.
First held in 2008, as part of the Centenary of Rugby League in Australia celebrations, the festival has been a part of every Men's Rugby League World Cup since.
The 2008 festival included the following events:[1]
- Defence Forces World Cup (1st)
- Police World Cup (1st)
- University World Cup (7th)
- Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup (1st)
- Women's Rugby League World Cup (3rd)
The same events also took place in 2013,[2] but due to concerns over funding in 2017 the Police World Cup was cancelled and the wheelchair tournament was relocated to France.[3][4] In 2017, the women's event was removed from the proceedings and upgraded to a centrepiece event,[5] along with the wheelchair event in 2021.[6]
The 2021 festival was anticipated to expand to include the following events:[7]
- Masters Rugby League World Cup
- Men's and Women's Armed Forces World Cup
- Men's and Women's Student World Cup
- Men's Emerging Nations World Championship
- Women's Emerging Nations World Championship
- Men's Police World Cup
- PDRL World Cup
However, in August 2020, the festival was postponed and when the World Cup was rescheduled for 2022 only the Masters and PDRL events took place.[8][9][10]
A list of festivals are as follows:
- 2008 Festival of World Cups
- 2013 Festival of World Cups
- 2017 Festival of World Cups
- 2021 Festival of World Cups
- 2026 Festival of World Cups
