THE NORTH West's European RL 'ambassador' has summoned an amazing alliance to boost his beloved game. Labour MEP Terry Wynn today lined up in his Great Britain Lions Rugby League shirt outside the European Parliament in Strasbourg as part of his campaign to push the sport further into the rugby-union heartlands of France. Terry's 'Declaration against Discrimination' has already won strong cross-party support have been signed by well over 100 Euro MP's from 15 nationalities.
The Wigan Warriors RL season ticket holder is determined to beat back the barrier's thwarting the re-establishment of the game across the channel. He's now organised a Euro Parliament plea direct to the French Government to stop punishing the 13-man code game. His Euro 'Declaration on Discrimination Against a Minority Sport' is now being supported by voices as diverse as Ulster's Nobel Peace Prize winner and now SDLP MEP John Hume and long time opponent the Rev Ian Paisley MEP . Signatures now include President of the European Parliament Pat Cox MEP, former President of the European Commission Jacques Santer and General Phillipe Morillon, the French General who led the UN forces during the Bosnian conflict. It calls on French sports authorities to give RL clubs the same access to stadia and municipal facilities that Union teams enjoy. Euro MP's may submit a written declaration on any matter falling within the sphere of the European Union and declarations attracting a majority of support are then forwarded to the Institutions being targeted. It also calls on the French government to start incorporating rugby league (and not just RU) as an appropriate sport for inclusion into the university curriculum for trainee PE and sports teachers. And to make municipal stadiums available to all sports people by repealing a by-law and regulations of the French Rugby Union Federation granting them exclusive rights. Early in the New Year Terry helped to form the European Rugby League Federation. And he's now calling for the French Government to fully publish it's 'Commission of Inquiry into sport during the Occupation' which detailed how the Nazi Vichy puppet war time government banned rugby league and seized the organisation's assets. These actions by the hated Marshall Petain set the game back half a century and Rugby League has struggled for financial support and recognition in France ever since.
He said : "At the present time rugby league clubs' access to certain municipal facilities is often made difficult if not impossible, because of the existence of this bylaw, which stipulates that a loan made by the Federation for the improvement of a municipal stadium reserves the stadium for the exclusive use of rugby union. "We are calling for this bylaw to be repealed because it is contrary to democratic rights since it allows a governing body - the French RU Federation - to enjoy, at little expense, the exclusive right to public facilities to the detriment of other users." (BLOB)
