Rugby Africa

Rugby Africa
Formation

1986

as CAR


2014

Rugby Africa
Type Sports federation
Membership
37 unions
President

Abdelaziz Bougja

Vice President

David Gilbert

Treasurer

Marcellin Zahui

Secretary

Mervin Green

Affiliations World Rugby
Website rugbyafrique.com

Rugby Africa (French: Rugby Afrique), known as the Confederation of African Rugby (CAR) prior to December 2014,[1] is the administrative body for rugby union within Africa. It was formed in 1986 to promote, develop, organise and administer the game of rugby in Africa under the authority of World Rugby (formerly IRB), which is the world governing body of rugby union.

Rugby Africa currently has 37 member nations and is responsible for running various rugby tournaments including the Africa Cup, which is the main 15-a-side competition for African national teams.

International competitions

Tournaments run by Rugby Africa include:

History

The Confederation of African Rugby (French: Confédération Africaine de Rugby) was officially launched in January 1986 in Tunis. The inaugural members at the meeting were Ivory Coast, Kenya, Madagascar, Morocco, Senegal, the Seychelles, Tanzania and Tunisia. A meeting was held in July 1992 in Casablanca with the view of integrating the SARFU into the confederation. South Africa had been denied entry until this time because of the government policy of apartheid (South African rugby had been governed by the mainly white South African Rugby Board and the mainly black South African Rugby Union). In March 1992 these were formally combined to form the South African Rugby Football Union (SARFU). The Confederation now has 37 member nations.

African Rugby Charter

The African Rugby Charter was signed by the President of CAR, Abdelaziz Bougja, the then President of the South African Rugby Union (SARFU) Brian van Rooyen, in the presence of former South African president Nelson Mandela, and the South African Minister of Sport, Makhenkesi Stofile.

We, the undersigned, hereby confirm our commitment to realising the potential of African rugby...
THAT, on this day, the creation of the African Leopards, Rugby Union in Africa will develop its own heroes and heroines;
THAT, developing rugby nations throughout Africa will be assisted with adequate human and physical resources to develop their playing potential at all levels;
THAT, every African boy and girl may soon have the opportunity to play the sport of Rugby Football.
— Signed on this 23rd day of July, 2005 at Johannesburg, South Africa.[2]

Development programs

The CAR formed agreements in 2014 which allowed member unions from Anglophone and Francophone nations in Africa to access training programs within the sports academies and administrative headquarters of the South African Rugby Union and French Rugby Federation, respectively. These agreements, designed to foster rugby development across the continent, were signed in January 2015, and followed earlier arrangements with the SARU and French club Castres Olympique which were made in 2006.[3][4]

Members

Rugby Africa has 37 member unions as of January 2015. Not all African member unions are members of World Rugby (WR).[5] The members of Rugby Africa are listed below, with the year each union joined World Rugby shown in brackets (where applicable). World Rugby associates are shown in italics.

There are 16 World Rugby members, 5 World Rugby associates, and 2 unions under World Rugby suspension:

There are 14 unions affiliated with Rugby Africa that are not directly affiliated to World Rugby:

Notes:

* Denotes associate membership date.
  1. ↑ Cameroon suspended from IRB in November 2013 due to inactivity.[6]
  2. ↑ Mauritania suspended from IRB in November 2013 due to inactivity.[6]
  3. 1 2 The governing body for both Mayotte and Réunion is the French Rugby Federation, which is affiliated with World Rugby and which has territorial committees for France's overseas departments and territories.

Leopards

Main article: African Leopards

The African Leopards are a representative team from Africa which aims to promote the sport throughout the whole of Africa. The Leopards played their first ever match in July 2005 at Ellis Park as a curtain raiser between Springboks and Australia.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "General Assembly 2014" (Press release). RA. 17 December 2014. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  2. ↑ Nauright, John; Parrish, Charles (2012). Sports Around the World. 1. ABC CLIO. p. 146. ISBN 9781598843002.
  3. ↑ Ken Borland, CAR drives Rugby's growth through Africa. The Southern Times. 11 April 2014.
  4. ↑ Agreements signed. Rugby Afrique. 6 January 2015.
  5. ↑ "Handbook" (PDF). World Rugby. 2014. pp. 16–10. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
  6. 1 2 "Indonesia becomes full member and Brunei associate member of IRB as two African unions suspended". ASOIF. 21 November 2013. Archived from the original on 2016-03-06. Retrieved 27 November 2013.
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