North America has been "given the go-ahead to host" the 2025 Rugby League World Cup, according to the PA. The U.S. and Canada will host the tournament after the Rugby League Int'l Federation "endorsed the recommendation of its board to take the 17th World Cup outside the sport’s traditional heartland for the first time." RLIF Chair Nigel Wood, who is also CEO of the Rugby Football League, said, "The award of the 2025 World Cup to North America is a historic moment in the global development of rugby league." The decision was made at the RLIF annual meeting in Liverpool, where Wood and Australia’s John Grant were re-elected as chair and deputy chair "respectively for the next two years" (PA, 11/20). The AAP reported the RLIF directors suggested the U.S. and Canada host the 2025 tournament "after overlooking them" for the 2021 World Cup in favor of England. The next step of the federation is to complete the int'l calendar from '18 onward, "with a crucial decision to be made on the future of the Four Nations Series" (AAP, 11/20).
