World Cup Qualifying Groups Announced?

[ali]

Found this on the Russian website.

http://www.google.com/translate?u=http://www.rrlf.ru/&hl=ru&ie=UTF8&sl=ru&tl=en
Opponents to the World Cup: Lebanon, Italy, Serbia

(15 - 16).10.2011. Italy - Russia, Lebanon - Serbia
(22 - 23) .10.2011. Russia - Lebanon, Serbia - Italy
(29 - 30) .10.2011. Serbia - Russia, Italy - Lebanon
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Sounds like the fixtures are reversed in 2012. Would love to see the winner get direct qualification but I suspect there will be a further play-off.

 

[crimpo]

The Atlantic guys are supposed to have their own spot and I'm struggling to see who in the Pacific isn't already in the tournament so by default that suggests the winner of this tournament qualifies.

 

[Evil Homer]

And yet three of these nations will miss out for the Cook Islands. FFS.

 

[docbrown]

Russia - Lebanon, Serbia - Italy
and then the Italy-Lebanon game

I think these three games will give a good indication of where the game is currently at with the minnows.

 

[hutch]

And yet three of these nations will miss out for the Cook Islands. FFS.

its a joke isnt it! i dont even see the point of having a cook islands team after the zeb taia fiasco!

 

[DINGb@T]

Do the Cook Islands have the requisite 4 team domestic league?

 

[campbo]

its a joke isnt it! i dont even see the point of having a cook islands team after the zeb taia fiasco!

I missed this. What was the Zeb Taia fiasco?

 

[jim_57]

its a joke isnt it! i dont even see the point of having a cook islands team after the zeb taia fiasco!

And the fact the whole country only has 20,000. Sure, do the correct thing and give them a chance to qualify but don't give them auto-qualification!

 

[hutch]

I missed this. What was the Zeb Taia fiasco?

not sure if it s a fiasco, but he played for nz this year despite being born in sydney to cook islander parents, because all cook islanders hold nz passports. so what is the point of a cook islands test team?

 

[campbo]

not sure if it s a fiasco, but he played for nz this year despite being born in sydney to cook islander parents, because all cook islanders hold nz passports. so what is the point of a cook islands test team?

Ahh... caught up now.

 

[Rugby XIII Fan]

Do the Cook Islands have the requisite 4 team domestic league?

Yes they do.

From memory, they have a 7 team competition with 4 different age groups. They have been going for 10 years + and the sport and the NRL have a good following over there.

 

[Rugby XIII Fan]

not sure if it s a fiasco, but he played for nz this year despite being born in sydney to cook islander parents, because all cook islanders hold nz passports. so what is the point of a cook islands test team?

The Cook Islands were once a part of the Dominion of New Zealand, however I don't believe they are anymore. However, they are still entitled to all the benefits that NZers have and the NZD is the currency in the island group. Its pretty much the same when NZers move to Australia or vice-versa with CER.

 

[bowes]

And yet three of these nations will miss out for the Cook Islands. FFS.

With the possible exception of Lebanon, Cook Islands are easily better than those sides, Italy and Russia's domestic setups are a shambles, and Serbia and Russia are very weak on the field.

FFS Cook Islands made the final of the Pacific Cup, hardly comparable to Italy and Serbia who got smashed every game in the European Cup and Russia who dropped out.

If England, Scotland and Wales can enter then Cook Islands certainly can.

Next time I'd like Solomon Islands to have a team so there's a team for Cook Islands to play in qualifiers, but I'd also like to see 16 teams so 2 each from Atlantic and Europe can qualify

 

[Evil Homer]

With the possible exception of Lebanon, Cook Islands are easily better than those sides, Italy and Russia's domestic setups are a shambles, and Serbia and Russia are very weak on the field.

FFS Cook Islands made the final of the Pacific Cup, hardly comparable to Italy and Serbia who got smashed every game in the European Cup and Russia who dropped out.

If England, Scotland and Wales can enter then Cook Islands certainly can.

Next time I'd like Solomon Islands to have a team so there's a team for Cook Islands to play in qualifiers, but I'd also like to see 16 teams so 2 each from Atlantic and Europe can qualify

If we overlook the fact that Cook Islands is not a nation, I don't think anyone would have any issues if they qualified legitimately for the tournament. The fact is though that, all eligibility issues with NZ aside, CI only has a population of 20,000, a lot of whom live in isolated communities. If it was a country it would be the 5th smallest in the world, ahead of just the three tiny island nations of Nauru, Palau and Tuvalu, and the Vatican. It has a smaller population than somewhere like Alice Springs, and only half the population of Neath, the small town where South Wales Scorpions are based. For that reason alone, giving them automatic inclusion is a joke. They have absolutely nothing to merit their automatic inclusion in the tournament, the only thing they bring is cloudy waters regarding eligibility issues and reduced credibility. If it's decided by a competant board in the future that CI is a country and can participate in international competition, or if it declares independence or whatever, then I would have no issues with their right to play and have a go at qualifying. That's not the issue here, the issue is that including any of the above nations has the potential to do so much more for the game than the Cook Islands, regardless of whether or not there happens to be a bunch of pros with CI descent in Australia and NZ.

 

[hutch]

the entire cook islands team in the pacific cup had zero players from the domestic league. hopefuly the 2013 world cup reinstates the rule that there has to be a least 3 players per squad (per team is better) who have played domestically for at least a year or two in the country they are representing. we need to start moving away from these complete heritage teams!

 

[druzik]

Do the Cook Islands have the requisite 4 team domestic league?

* team actually, and a robust one as well.

 

[theblob]

If we overlook the fact that Cook Islands is not a nation, I don't think anyone would have any issues if they qualified legitimately for the tournament. The fact is though that, all eligibility issues with NZ aside, CI only has a population of 20,000, a lot of whom live in isolated communities...

If it's decided by a competant board in the future that CI is a country and can participate in international competition, or if it declares independence or whatever, then I would have no issues with their right to play and have a go at qualifying.

Of course, the Cooks aren´t an independent nation, you are correct, but there are other nations with a lesser degree of independence than the Cooks who compete in international sports including rugby league, the countries of the UK being obvious examples but also French overseas ´departements´ (e.g. New Caledonia, Wallis and Futuna) as well as UK dependencies. Eligibility is no more of an issue with the Cooks than anywhere else...UK citizens have the same passports but that doesn´t automatically make an Englishman eligible for, say, Scotland. Heck, the IOC, FIFA, IRB and ICC all have the Cooks as members, amongst others.

They have absolutely nothing to merit their automatic inclusion in the tournament

What about being Pacific Cup finalists? They defeated countries that are stronger than any of those competing in the qualifiers.

That's not the issue here, the issue is that including any of the above nations has the potential to do so much more for the game than the Cook Islands, regardless of whether or not there happens to be a bunch of pros with CI descent in Australia and NZ.

So do you think teams should be able to qualify on merit or not?

 

[Wilson1]

The whole problem was caused by handing out 12 spots automatically. If only 5 or 6 were handed out then it would not matter. Obviously teams should make the cup on merit but it would be far preferable to rugby league for countries like Jamaica, Lebanon and the USA to be there instead as they can actually grow and become competitive nations.