Nigeria Eyes Rugby League World Cup Hosting After IRL Boost

The Nigeria Rugby League Association has taken a significant step towards its development by joining the International Rugby League accelerator programme, making it the fourth country to do so. The IRL Accelerator Nation project aims to boost the value of the Rugby League World Cup by expanding the number of competitive nations through various activities.

The accelerator programme, initially established in 2025, welcomed France, Wales, and Papua New Guinea as its inaugural members, later expanding to include one representative from each of the Americas and Middle East Africa regions. After a rigorous month-long application process, Nigeria was selected from the four invitees in the Middle East Africa region.

The association's Vice President, Ade Adebisi, along with senior officials from France and Wales, joined the IRL Rugby League World Cup 2026 operations team to gain valuable insights. This three-week deployment marks the first output of the accelerator initiative, announced by IRL last year. The project's objectives include nurturing pathways for local junior leagues to develop into 13-a-side men's and women's leagues, providing high-quality coaching and high-performance coach development, and facilitating local youth or open age representative teams to compete against elite-level teams through tours.

Nigeria is the first African nation to join the accelerator project, aligning with the Nigeria Rugby League Association's ambition to host the International Rugby League World Cup.