Representatives of eight nations – Kenya, Ghana, Morocco, Nigeria, Cameroon, South Africa, DR Congo and Burundi – will convene in Nairobi between 1-6 April for the delivery of coaching and match official courses.

The event, funded by the Rugby League World Cup 2021 International Development Programme with additional resources from UK Sport, European Rugby League, International Rugby League and the Kenya Rugby League Federation, will see candidates complete their Level 1 accreditation and progress to Level 2 activity in both disciplines. This builds on previous IDP funded activity delivered in the Middle East Africa region, in Nigeria in 2019.

John Mbia, KRLF head of development, commented: “It is an honour and privilege for us as a federation to be hosting the technical education courses that will see our local coaches and match officials continue to get technically upskilled, together with our rugby league brothers and sisters from other African nations.”

European Rugby League head of coaching, Martin Crick, added: “This is an important step forward for the development of the game in Africa and is significant in that it will train a number of coaches to be able to introduce the game to new participants in Kenya, and continue to grow the sport there. In addition, the course will be delivered by educators from South Africa with trainee educators from Ghana, Cameroon and Nigeria also in attendance, which is an important building block towards establishing the region’s own independent confederation.”