2021 Rugby League World Cup

Host selection

There were initially three bids World Cup for the 2021 Rugby League World Cup but the United Arab Emirates bid had to be cancelled due to the arrest of Sol Mokdad following a complaint from UAE rugby union officials.

England, and the United States and Canada were the two remaining bidders of the event. The English RFL received U.K. government support - £15 million to enhance the tournament and up to a further £10 million into the game's infrastructure - for the event to be staged in the country. The RFL mentioned they wanted the event to be the most attended in history with over 1,000,000 people attending the grounds over the tournament’s days. They were also planning to use 12 venues for the event which included non-purpose and rugby league-purpose stadiums.

The United States and Canada bid was initially a sole United States bid from an Australian sports marketing agency, Moore Sports International (MSI). Jason Moore of MSI stated that rugby league has a strong following in several US markets and that fans new to rugby league and "who have a hunger for gladiatorial-style sports are going to fall in love with this extraordinary game". Eight to ten cities, featuring venues from either the NFL or MLS, were planned for the event, offering Rugby League International Federation the opportunity to stage the tournament outside of Europe and Australasia for the first time. Canada Rugby League later announced they wanted to be a part of the United States bid stating that the cities of Vancouver and Toronto could also potentially host matches.

On 27 October 2016, RLIF announced that England had won hosting rights for the 2021 Rugby League World Cup. To avoid a conflict of interest, RFL Chief Executive Nigel Wood, who is chairman of the RLIF, and RFL Chairman Brian Barwick, a fellow RLIF board member, did not take part in the decision-making process.

Venues

There are initially 15 venues shortlisted which will be finalised to 12 for the tournament.