MEA Rugby League Championship

The Middle East-Africa Rugby League Championship (MEA) is a rugby league football competition for national teams from the Middle East and Africa which is organised by Middle East Africa Rugby League a sub-branch of the European Rugby League. The first tournament was held in 2015 as a part of the qualification process for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup, and was followed by tournaments in 2019 and 2020 with an expanded structure.

MEA Championship
Current season or competition:
2022 MEA Rugby League Championship
SportRugby league
Instituted2015
Number of teams4
RegionMiddle-East and Africa (MEARL)
Holders Nigeria (2022)
Most titles Nigeria (2 titles)
Tournaments

History

The MEA Championship began in 2015 as a part of the qualification process for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup in order to determine the sole participant from the Middle East and Africa. Lebanon defeated South Africa in both fixtures and secured world cup qualification in addition to winning the first championship title.

The tournament was reborn in 2019 as a championship between select nations in the Middle East and Africa. The 2017 edition featured national teams only from West Africa including eventual winners Nigeria, as well as Morocco, Ghana and Cameroon.

The Rugby League European Federation announced in 2020 that an additional tournament was planned for 2020,[1] and that thereafter the tournament would be held on a bi-annual basis.[2] The 2020 edition will be held at Tuks Stadium, in Pretoria, South Africa and will see the return of current title holders Nigeria, alongside previous participants Morocco, Lebanon and South Africa.[2]

Appearances

Seven nations have taken part in the three MEA Championships held to date:

Results
Year Host Winner Score Runner-up Third and Fourth place or losing semi-finalists Number
of
teams
2015  South Africa
Lebanon		 90 – 28[lower-alpha 1]
South Africa		 N/A 2
2019  Nigeria
Nigeria		 38 – 10
Morocco		  Ghana and  Cameroon 4
2020  South Africa Tournament cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic. 4
2022  Ghana
Nigeria		 30 – 4
Ghana
Kenya
Cameroon		 4

Results by nation
TeamTitlesRunners-upSemi-finals
 Nigeria 2 (2019, 2022) 0 0
 Lebanon 1 (2015) 0 0
 Ghana 0 1 (2022) 1 (2019)
 South Africa 0 1 (2015) 0
 Morocco 0 1 (2019) 0
 Cameroon 0 0 2 (2019, 2022)
 Kenya 0 0 1 (2022)

See also

Notes
  1. Aggregate over two matches

References
  1. "Lineup Confirmed for 2020 MEA Championship". RLEF. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
  2. "Draw Confirmed for 2020 MEA Championship". RLEF. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
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