RUGBY WORLD CUP
MORE THAN JUST RUGBY As the Rugby League World Cup 2021 organising committee prepares to reveal the final venues for the tournament, Tom Walker speaks to chief executive Jon Dutton about the plans for the event
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see our task as being to create and host a sports and entertainment event – and not ‘just’ a rugby league tournament,” says Jon Dutton, chief executive of the Rugby League World Cup 2021. “We’ve received a large amount of public funding, so I think that alone
means we have an obligation and a duty to go beyond the five or six weeks of competition of the tournament. “So that’s exactly what we’re doing. We’re going to use rugby league to engage with a number of towns, cities and communities across the country.” Dutton, who took up his role as CEO on 1 February 2018, says the tournament’s mix of sport, culture and entertainment will help achieve one of the organising committee’s primary objectives.
“We want to take the game to new audiences,” he says. “So the 2021 World Cup will be about much more than just the sport.”
SUPPORT STRUCTURES England secured the right to host the 2021 World Cup following a keenly contested bidding process, which included a joint bid from the US and Canada. Announcing the winner, the Rugby League International Federation (RLIF) said that the wide support for the sport in England – at both grassroots and government level – had ensured the bid’s success in the final assessments. The tournament certainly has the support of the government, which has committed £25m to hosting Dutton and UK Sport’s Esther Britten launch ‘Inspired by 2021’ in London
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the tournament. Of that total, £15m will be spent on the staging of the event, while £10m will be invested
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