Turkey joins rugby league ranks

Turkey are set to join the ranks of rugby league playing nations this weekend, when club side Kadikoy Bulls vist Belgrade in Serbia.

The 27-man touring party, composed of players and staff, will undertake coaching and match official training courses while in Serbia.

They will also play a game against Serbian second division team New Belgrade on Sunday, and attend the Serbian Cup final.

“So far we have four clubs and Bulls of Kadikoy is the nucleus of rugby league in Turkey,” said Bulls coach Julien Treu.

“We are following all the guidelines of the Ministry of Sports to form a Federation, we have a player’s association and the next step is to have five registered clubs to complete our application.”

The game between the Bulls and New Belgrade will be streamed live here: http://www.sportuzivo.tv/v2/stream/index.php?channel=sportuzivo1

“This is great step forward for the rugby league in the Balkans with the start of the process that should see Turkey become a member of the European rugby league family,” added Jovan Vujosevic, RLEF Regional director for East and Central Europe.

“Turkey is very important strategically, not only for Europe but also for our colleagues in the Middle East.”