LEBANON: Lebanese confine aggression to the rugby pitch

Rugby is not a widely practised sport in the Middle East, but that is changing in Lebanon, where Lebanese students are starting to get involved in the game with encouragement from the Rugby League International Federation. Chunky young men face off in the cool autumn sunshine of a mountain town in Lebanon, a country gripped by political instability and fears of violence. There are brief sprints forward, crunching collisions and ferocious yells of "take him out, pull him down". The aggression is real, but harmless -- these are not trainee militiamen practising hand-to-hand combat, but students tasting the robust joys of rugby, a relatively unknown sport in Lebanon. Danny Kazandjian, a Londoner, has spent the last five years trying to change that, with a mandate from the Rugby League International Federation to introduce the game to Lebanon. The tiny Middle Eastern nation competed in the 2000 World Cup, but all its players were Australians of Lebanese origin. "Lebanon participated in the world cup in 2000, when we had a remit from the international federations to bring the game to Lebanon because the original team was made up exclusively of Australian-Lebanese players. So we started to develop the sport in 2002," said Kazandjian. Australian-Lebanese players still dominate the national squad, which this month narrowly failed to qualify for next year's World Cup, despite beating Wales in a thriller. But local players are coming up with interest growing among students in Lebanese universities, like the American University of Beirut (AUB). "It's very popular. We took a strategy to concentrate on a small number of institutions to try and make the sport part of their culture to institutionalise it if you will in those universities and we have been doing that for five years now and we have very strong links with AUB, LAU and Balamand which are three of the premier universities in the country," said said Kazandjian as he coached a game between the American University of Beirut (AUB) and Lebanese American University (LAU). Kazandjian, who donned a yellow referee's shirt for the game, has nurtured the nucleus of a future rugby league federation from half a dozen clubs at top Lebanese universities. These universities can provide pitches and facilities and student turnover means many young people get acquainted with the sport. The downside is that many leave for jobs abroad when they graduate, despairing of Lebanon's political and economic frailties. When he first came to Lebanon, Kazandjian was told that no Lebanese would want to play such a rough game. But now things have changed and the game is gaining more ground. "People knew about the game but did not know how to play it. But there were people interested in the game from the beginning. The guys are really happy, whenever they talk about the game, they get excited," said one player, Munir Finan. Lebanese clubs have contested domestic championships every year since 2002, although last season's could not be completed because of battles that erupted in May between the army and Islamist gunmen at the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp. Soccer remains easily Lebanon's most popular sport, but many of its top clubs have sectarian or political affiliations -- a feature rugby league's promoters have been determined to avoid. Unfortunately, the sport cannot offer the fragmented country an example of unity. A worldwide split between 15-a-side rugby union and the 13-a-side league version is also reflected here, despite Lebanon's tiny pool of no more than 300 regular players. Lebanese rugby union teams will take part in next week's 37-year-old Dubai Sevens competition as they have for several years. They also compete in a new league with Syria and Jordan. Rugby union has a longer pedigree than the league version in Lebanon, arriving 12 years ago when two emigre brothers formed the Beirut Phoenicians club after their return from England. But Kazandjian, given a remit in May by the European Rugby League Federation to develop the sport in the Middle East and North Africa, is convinced rugby league can make rapid strides. As the big men piled into each other furiously on the pitch, the few women fans in the Bhamdoun stadium seemed enthralled. "It's exciting, it's aggressive, so it's fun to watch," said Lana Shukri, who came to cheer her classmates.

ITN Source | November 28, 2007

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