Saood Belshalat appointed head of league as UAERF look to address dispute between rugby bodies

Saood Belshalat, pictured alongside former UAE performance manager Epeli Lagiloa in 2013, has been appointed the head of UAE rugby league. Christopher Pike / The National

DUBAI // The UAE Rugby Federation have appointed their longest-serving Emirati rugby union administrator to oversee league.

Saood Belshalat’s first involvement in the sport was as manager of the UAE Falcons, who in 2005 were the first Emirati players to play in the Dubai Sevens.

He was one of the original board members when the new federation took over the running of rugby after the Arabian Gulf union was disbanded at the end of 2010.

Belshalat is the chairman of the new committee set up by the General Authority of Youth and Sports Welfare to organise league after the continuing legal case against Sol Mokdad, the president of the Rugby League Commission, who had previously run the 13-a-side game.

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It is a situation at odds with the ideals of the global governing bodies of both sports, namely World Rugby and the Rugby League International Federation.

With the UAERF being the only government-recognised body for rugby here, league matches cannot be sanctioned without their say so.

New committees in league and touch rugby will be endorsed at a board meeting at Dubai on Wednesday, when officials return from the Asian Rugby Championship Division 2 in Malaysia.

The national team play the last game of the campaign against Chinese Taipei on Saturday, with promotion only a distant possibility.

The UAE need to win their match, then hope last-placed Thailand beat the undefeated home side for them to top the group and earn promotion. Roelof Kotze, the performance manager, has juggled his personnel to give a start to several players who were on the bench for the first two matches.

“We are disappointed with the result against Malaysia and have spent the last two days fixing weaknesses and mistakes in our structures,” Kotze said. “We are aiming to finish strong and come home with a second victory.”

Qais Al Dhalai, UAERF secretary general, said the federation are proud of the efforts of the tour party in Kuala Lumpur.

“We have mixed emotions at this point,” Al Dhalai said. “From our resounding win against Thailand we saw that the direction and efforts coach Roelof and his coaching team have taken has paid dividends with the players.

“Unfortunately in our game against Malaysia these efforts were not rewarded. However, we are extremely proud of every member of the team, their attitude, commitment and dedication to playing under the UAE flag.”

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