Lebanon players to protest against governing body against Fiji

[Burns]

https://www.nospam47.com/au/league/...g-body-in-fiji-test/pu0465qfy8pi1gqi8rhmjnjxc

High-profile Lebanon players will lead a protest against the Lebanese Rugby League Federation (LRLF) in Saturday's Test match against Fiji, according to reports.

Robbie Farah, Josh Mansour and Mitchell Moses will be among several high-profile NRL stars to run out for the Cedars against the Bati at Leichhardt Oval.

But as first reported by News Limited, they will tape over the governing body's logo on their jerseys as part of a protest against the current LRLF board.

The controversial move is also a gesture of solidarity with the Cedars' domestic players, amid allegations the incumbent five-person LRLF board was not democratically elected.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I thought this had all sorted? What a mess to be honest. This is their first match since the RLWC 2017; when will they even play again?

Also:

 

[Pommy]

I also thought this had been corrected. What a mess, they really did well in 2017 and they haven’t built upon it at all.

 

[RedVee]

It’s the RL disease. So many countries seem to suffer these factional blow ups

 

[Irish-bulldog]

Hopefully Moses and doueihi play, they need everyone against a tough Fiji team

 

[Foreign Legion]

cant these players just play football, all these players think there Mother Teresa's...



.... mean while

 

[Walter sobchak]

It really is hard being a RL fan. Especially international RL.

 

[Hello, I'm The Doctor]

It’s the RL disease. So many countries seem to suffer these factional blow ups

I might be super wrong, but to me it seems like the funiamental nature of RL for the shit to happen....

THe game was founded because, rather than working WITH the RFU to find common ground and a solution for the northerners problems, the Northerners just said "f*ck it" and started a winner-takes-all war.

Its a shame that it happened then and it is a shame that it happens over and over...

 

[Irish-bulldog]

Settle down people, I can’t honestly remember the international game in a healthier spot then it is now, well after the super league war anyway. It’s going good

 

[Walter sobchak]

Settle down people, I can’t honestly remember the international game in a healthier spot then it is now, well after the super league war anyway. It’s going good

Could be so much better and healthier though.

 

[deluded pom?]

I might be super wrong, but to me it seems like the funiamental nature of RL for the shit to happen....

THe game was founded because, rather than working WITH the RFU to find common ground and a solution for the northerners problems, the Northerners just said "f*ck it" and started a winner-takes-all war.

Its a shame that it happened then and it is a shame that it happens over and over...

If it hadn’t happened we’d be watching soccer. Feck watching union.

 

[adamkungl]

What's frustrating is the lack of transparency by basically any international body here.

The test players (some of whom have a history of white-anting) make these allegations, no one hears from the Lebanon RL, or the supposed domestic players, and the RLIF says nothing.

Nobody has any idea what is happening in this story and its been running for close to 2 years.

These are the quotes from Fittler last year:
https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/le...ver-world-cup-management-20180324-p4z629.html

It’s understood the players feel they were underfunded and didn’t receive the support they were expecting as they attempted to take on the big names on the international stage. While Michael Maguire is expected to replace Fittler as coach, a contract is yet to be signed off.

“I was talking to someone yesterday, one of the players were saying they didn’t believe the the people in control had the best interests of the game,” Fittler said.

“They weren’t happy. There were definite gripes from the staff, especially the players having to come and play, take time out of work. There was no money.

“The perception was the Lebanon community were promoting just about every other team, they couldn’t understand why some of that money went into that. It was too late to make changes or a difference so close to the World Cup.

“There were definitely gripes from the staff about raising funds and where the funds were going.

Sounds more like a bunch of professional footballers thought they'd be getting the Kangaroos treatment and got the shits when an amateur organisation with no money couldn't give it to them.

This story stinks.

 

[Matua]

Settle down people, I can’t honestly remember the international game in a healthier spot then it is now, well after the super league war anyway. It’s going good

Really? We have players swapping teams on the eve of matches and club coaches stopping players from being selected - and international league is even more under origin's shadow than before.

PI international league maybe in a healthier spot right now but that's not international league.

 

[Burns]

Really? We have players swapping teams on the eve of matches and club coaches stopping players from being selected - and international league is even more under origin's shadow than before.

PI international league maybe in a healthier spot right now but that's not international league.

...
How is PI International League, not International League?

The game at the International level is in fit shape.

Player swapping is made up to be a bigger deal than what it is.

In the past year we had NZ beat Australia and England, England win a series against NZ, and Tonga put in a strong performance against Australia.

 

[Matua]

...
How is PI International League, not International League?

The game at the International level is in fit shape.

Player swapping is made up to be a bigger deal than what it is.

In the past year we had NZ beat Australia and England, England win a series against NZ, and Tonga put in a strong performance against Australia.

PI league is part of International league, it isn't all of international league.

Player swapping may not be a big deal to you, but it is to a team like NZ which does not have near the mythical depth that some on here appear to assign it (although somewhat ironically the Kiwis have the most halves to select from than in anytime in our history currently). Fans are switching off in NZ. NZ is the third biggest market for league in the world.

 

[Burns]

PI league is part of International league, it isn't all of international league.

Player swapping may not be a big deal to you, but it is to a team like NZ which does not have near the mythical depth that some on here appear to assign it (although somewhat ironically the Kiwis have the most halves to select from than in anytime in our history currently). Fans are switching off in NZ. NZ is the third biggest market for league in the world.

This isn’t the thread for it, but:

Pacific International league represents a significant area of the game, and aligns with the NRL’s objectives in the area. It is unfortunate that it is undermining NZ, but it will also affect Australia (see Fifita).

NZ is it’s own harshest critic. You beat Australia last year, and belted England (albeit in a dead rubber). There is a new coach attempting to rebuild a broken team culture under Kidwell. The NZRL is at least partly responsible for failing to arrange NZ home matches following its greatest periods of success (2014 4 Nations comes to mind).

 

[adamkungl]

NZs biggest problem is not playing at home often enough, especially in the years after big wins
NZRL takes the quick buck offered by playing in Aus and England instead of investing in its own.

 

[siv]

The board changed

So whats their problem now ?

 

[deluded pom?]

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/se...-unavailable-for-lebanon-20190617-p51yln.html

 

[Irish-bulldog]

Farah saying the domestic comp isn’t happening which is a disappointing development isn’t it

 

[adamkungl]

And we've officially reached the point of farce, which in Rugby League land is sadly never far away.

The LRL board has threatened the players with suspensions and fines if they carry on with the protest as planned, as well as reporting them to the police for defacing the Lebanese national icon, which is a criminal offence in Lebanon.

There are too many questions on this to take sides at the moment and no journalist has done any digging to try find a clearer picture.

The threat of criminal charges from the LRL board is a dark turn which doesn't paint them in a favourable light.

But I also have difficulty accepting the motives of serial white-ants Farah and Moses on face value, with no supporting evidence. There are quotes from 2017 stating that at least some of their dispute was over not receiving adequate payment and funding.

What is the real situation in Lebanon right now?
How was the board elected?
Who are the domestic players that Farah claims to be standing on behalf of?

There is so far no statement from any higher RL governing body.