Should Lebanon be classed as European or other for 2013 qualifying?

[bowes]

Sounds a silly technicality, but thinking about it if we have 12 teams in the 2013 world cup (as expected) then the next highest standard of teams are Lebanon and Wales. And thus we have the chance to guarantee a world cup spot for a team from outside of Europe or Oceania, rather than making them go through repechage, and since Lebanon is the best non-European side it would make sense for them to have a chance in that qualifier. Of course you'd then give Europe and Oceania an extra guaranteed spot each in place of repechage and reserve the repechage spot for a team from outside those places, giving the allocation of places as follows (including auto qualifiers):

Europe: 5
Oceania: 6
Asia/Africa/Americas: 1

Of course when we hopefully eventually go to 16 teams you'd have 1 place each for these 3 continents and an extra 1 each from Europe and Oceania, but til then it makes sense to have teams from 3 continents as opposed to just 2 here, without letting in a side that will get thrashed.

I guess you could split the teams into Middle East/Africa and Far East/Americas zones with a playoff for the winners (roughly like the qualifying for 2000, albeit with other zones going on)

What do people think? The only potential problem is that it potentially reduces the quality of matches for Lebanon

 

[VonVolks]

Lebanon is classed as part of Europe for RL at the moment.

 

[bulos01]

Lebanon is classed as part of Europe for RL at the moment.

thanks for that. did u not read the thread name? im pretty sure he knows that.
good idea that wont happen

 

[VonVolks]

OK What I meant was it is classed as part of Europe, and should stay that way for the future until there is a good reason to change that, ie the growth of a MENA type region. But that would be looking forward someway.

 

[Brownie.Kougari]

I think that, as long as Lebanon is a member or the Rugby League European Federation, it should compete in the European leagues.

This includes the World Cup Qualifiers (the FFA is part of the Asian Federation hence the socceroos play in the Asian competitions and in the Asian qualifiers).

 

[Bulldog Force]

I'm happy with Lebanese Rugby League the way it is now - it's growing in a great way. There's no point in trying to fix something that's not broken. And 12 teams in the 2013 WC with the inclusion of Lebanon and Wales will again mean that the RLWC will be a farce. 16 teams IMO. Add some more Eastern European teams (Serbia, Russia) and the USA Tomahawks as well as another international team on the rise, Malta. The Galea boys are Maltese as well as Michael Vella - the former Eels prop. The game is on the rise over there (I think Mario Fenech is the international coach) and it's fair to give them a chance too.

 

[BatiFan]

I would actually like to see Lebanon play off for a spot in the next World Cup through an Asian qualifying group. I believe in Soccer they are part of the Asian Confederation and with the emergence of UAE and hopeful development in Japan, it would be a way to ensure that a nation like Lebanon goes through. It would be a massive "leg up" but I personally think that the WC would benefit from having a team from Lebanon no matter how they get there.

 

[Bulldog Force]

I would actually like to see Lebanon play off for a spot in the next World Cup through an Asian qualifying group. I believe in Soccer they are part of the Asian Confederation and with the emergence of UAE and hopeful development in Japan, it would be a way to ensure that a nation like Lebanon goes through. It would be a massive "leg up" but I personally think that the WC would benefit from having a team from Lebanon no matter how they get there.

No doubt about it. Considering that 1/2 the team consists of home-grown players, Lebanon itself would also benefit from it. Players that come to mind are Robbie Farah, Hazem El Masri, Frank Samia, George Ndaira, Jamie Clark, Ray Moujalli etc... all have Lebanese blood in them. The amount of young players with Lebanese background taking up the game here is inspiring the game in Lebanon.

 

[Bulldog Force]

Thread about Lebanon's victory against Serbia:

http://forums.leagueunlimited.com/showthread.php?p=4641684#post4641684

 

[Perth Red]

3 qualifying groups

Gp1 Scotland, Ireland, Wales,
Gp2 USA, Lebanon, Malta, ?West Indies
Gp3 Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Cook Islands, PNG
Gp4, Russia, Serbia, Georgia, ?Germany

OZ, NZ, England and France go through automatically top two teams from gp 1 & 3 top teams from Gp2&4 plus play off for 2 wildcard spots between the rest.

 

[Cheezel]

Sounds a silly technicality, but thinking about it if we have 12 teams in the 2013 world cup (as expected) then the next highest standard of teams are Lebanon and Wales. And thus we have the chance to guarantee a world cup spot for a team from outside of Europe or Oceania, rather than making them go through repechage, and since Lebanon is the best non-European side it would make sense for them to have a chance in that qualifier. Of course you'd then give Europe and Oceania an extra guaranteed spot each in place of repechage and reserve the repechage spot for a team from outside those places, giving the allocation of places as follows (including auto qualifiers):

Europe: 5
Oceania: 6
Asia/Africa/Americas: 1

Of course when we hopefully eventually go to 16 teams you'd have 1 place each for these 3 continents and an extra 1 each from Europe and Oceania, but til then it makes sense to have teams from 3 continents as opposed to just 2 here, without letting in a side that will get thrashed.

I guess you could split the teams into Middle East/Africa and Far East/Americas zones with a playoff for the winners (roughly like the qualifying for 2000, albeit with other zones going on)

What do people think? The only potential problem is that it potentially reduces the quality of matches for Lebanon

I like that idea!

I think 12 teams for 2013 is perfect. I also think that having a team like Lebanon or America in the World Cup would just increase the exposure of the tournament.

I think a great thing to come out of this World Cup is the Minnow teams have not been grouped with any of the big three (bar PNG) for all those teams to finish on 2 points is amazing.

Hopefully in 5 years time these smaller nations will have a bit more depth.