IRELAND’S BID TO host the 2023 World Cup has passed the first hurdle with World Rugby this afternoon confirming the four nations vying to stage the tournament.
The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) will need to see off stiff competition from France, Italy and South Africa in the bidding process after all four unions formally lodged their bid questionnaires before yesterday’s deadline.
From here, the four candidates will be assessed further to see if they meet the criteria laid out by World Rugby and any who don’t will learn their fate on 1 November 2016. The winner will then be named in November 2017.
“We are delighted by the strong level of serious interest from unions and governments, which truly underscores the enormous hosting appeal of Rugby World Cup as a low-investment, low-risk, high-return economic, social and sporting driver,” World Rugby President, Bill Beaumont said.
“Great events are built on strong partnerships and this process represents a major milestone in the planning and preparation phase for unions and supporting government agencies who intend to bid for Rugby World Cup 2023.”
Ireland has previously hosted World Cup games in 1991 and 1999 but has never won the right to stage the tournament outright.
The IRFU officially announced its intention to bid for the 2023 edition back in December 2014 with the backing of Governments on both sides of the border.
The GAA has also previously agreed to make its stadium available to the IRFU and the staging of games at grounds such as Croke Park, Semple Stadium and Pairc Ui Chaoimh will have been part of the bid questionnaire.
The four nations will now be assessed by the following criteria:
- Venues and infrastructure commensurate with a top-tier major event
- Comprehensive and enforceable public and private sector guarantees
- A commercially successful event with a fully funded, robust financial model
- Operational excellence through an integrated and experienced delivery team
- A vision that engages and inspires domestic and international audiences and contributes to the growth of rugby at all levels
- An enabling environment of political and financial stability that respects the diversity of Rugby World Cup’s global stakeholders
- An environment and climate suited to top-level sport in a geography that allows maximum fan mobility
Despite government opposition, South Africa feature among the four candidates.
South Africa — who won the trophy when they previously hosted the global showpiece in 1995 — will contest the race even though there is a government ban on them staging international events because they failed to meet two of 13 racial transformation targets.
Rugby was not alone in being banned for bidding for events as cricket, netball and athletics also failed their criteria.
Japan are set to stage the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
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