NRFF protests cancellation of rugby from All Africa Games

The Nigeria Rugby Federation (NRFF) has protested the exclusion of rugby from the events to feature at the 2015 All Africa Games scheduled for Congo later this year.

NRFF’s technical director, Fasimoye Olatunji, said the body was not happy with the recent development, adding that the countries that have already qualified for the championship have written a protest letter to the organizers of the tournament.

He also revealed that the rugby league would resume on July 25, saying the fixture was done to allow players, who just returned from the Africa Championship in Zambia, have enough time to rest before the league resumes.

Olatunji noted that the federation was doing its best to ensure the league gained more recognition to attract more sponsors.

He said: “The Federation has been informed by the organizers of the AAG that there will be no rugby in the championship. This development did not go down well with the federation and we have written a protest letter.

“Participating in the championship will further assist in developing the sport in Africa. We have put behind the result we got in the African 1C hosted in Zambia. If not for some questionable calls made by the referee in favour of the host country, who were desperate to host and win, the Black Stallions would have won their two games and gained promotion to division 1B.”

Olatunji revealed that the rugby league, which is now on break, was originally scheduled to resume on July 18, adding that the federation also considered the Ramadan fast in shifting its resumption to July 25.