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Miller: Just a matter of time for US as host
Source: Agencies |
November 12, 2010, Friday
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Print Edition
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THE chief executive of rugby's governing body believes it is a question of "when, not if" the sport's World Cup is held in the United States.
Japan will become the first nation from outside the sport's elite to host the four-yearly showpiece in 2019, and International Rugby Board chief Mike Miller said on Wednesday that the United States or Russia could soon follow.
"It's a question of when - not if - it's going to happen," Miller said.
Rugby's profile has been boosted by inclusion of its seven-a-side discipline in the Summer Olympics from 2016.
The IRB wants to use the elite World Cup to spread participation in a sport played to its highest level in few nations outside Europe and Australasia.
And the 15-man sport is set for further exposure in the US next year when NBC broadcasts the World Cup from New Zealand in the United States for the first time.
The IRB last year awarded England the 2015 World Cup hosting rights at the same time as giving the 2019 edition to Japan, which has participated in every tournament since it was first staged in 1987 but has won only once in 20 matches.
Miller said he hoped to continue the practice of choosing two hosts at a time since it allowed the IRB to make a big profit in an established nation before taking a relative gamble on a country that would never otherwise get the chance.
Japan will become the first nation from outside the sport's elite to host the four-yearly showpiece in 2019, and International Rugby Board chief Mike Miller said on Wednesday that the United States or Russia could soon follow.
"It's a question of when - not if - it's going to happen," Miller said.
Rugby's profile has been boosted by inclusion of its seven-a-side discipline in the Summer Olympics from 2016.
The IRB wants to use the elite World Cup to spread participation in a sport played to its highest level in few nations outside Europe and Australasia.
And the 15-man sport is set for further exposure in the US next year when NBC broadcasts the World Cup from New Zealand in the United States for the first time.
The IRB last year awarded England the 2015 World Cup hosting rights at the same time as giving the 2019 edition to Japan, which has participated in every tournament since it was first staged in 1987 but has won only once in 20 matches.
Miller said he hoped to continue the practice of choosing two hosts at a time since it allowed the IRB to make a big profit in an established nation before taking a relative gamble on a country that would never otherwise get the chance.
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