Lebanese players and officials were preparing to stage a round of friendly rugby league 9s matches as the latest hostilities in the Middle East began.

With more than 120 players from across the local rugby league community due to take part in the tournament, Lebanon Rugby League Federation CEO Robin Hachache and other officials asked each of the teams if they wanted to postpone it.

The unanimous response was that they wanted to play, so on March 1 the 12 scheduled games went ahead over a five-hour period in Beirut.

“In many ways it was a reminder that, even in a very small rugby league community like ours, the love of the game is stronger than the uncertainty around us,” Hachache said.

“Rugby league in Lebanon has always been built on resilience and community spirit, and that was on full display that day.”

Photo: Action from the recent 9s tournament as rugby league in Lebanon continues to show resillience amid the ongoing Middle East conflict. @LRLF

Since then, the situation has worsened and all sport in Lebanon has been suspended, but with many people in the areas worst affected moving to safety, Hachache said plans were underway to resume training and playing.

The LRLF has a 9s tournament scheduled for April and is maintaining a booking on the grounds in the belief that playing will provide a boost to morale.

“Here, in the rugby league community, everyone is united. The players and the teams that participated in those friendly games were from all over Lebanon - from the south, from the north, from different religions and different cultural backgrounds,” Hachache said.

“The friendly 9s matches were in preparation for the proper tournament in April and I am still hoping that if the situation stabilises we can go ahead. The players are keen to play, they even wanted to keep training, so we are going to continue to plan and be ready if we can go ahead.”

Photo: Players and teams from across Lebanon are hoping to resume playing soon. @LRLF

The Cedars are in the World Cup in October and November but the conflict in the Middle East won’t affect Lebanon’s RLWC2026 campaign under Michael Cheika.

The former Wallabies mentor, who is an assistant coach at Sydney Roosters, guided Lebanon to the quarter-finals of the last World Cup in England and will again take charge of the Cedars, whose draw includes matches against:

PNG at Santos National Stadium, Port Moresby on October 17
Tonga at CommBank Stadium, Sydney on October 23
France at CommBank Stadium, Sydney on November 1

With Lebanon still recovering from the impact of COVID-19, the 2020 Beirut Port explosion and the financial crisis that has gripped the country, Hachache and the LRLF are focused on rebuilding the domestic game.

As a result, a decision had already been made to rely on NRL stars, led by Jacob Kiraz, Adam Doueihi, Mitchell Moses and Alex Twal, who are among 15 players with Lebanese heritage in the Telstra Premiership.

Others such as Wigan's Abbas Miski play in the Super League, or NSW and Queensland Cup competitions.

Photo: Bulldogs star Jacob Kiraz is one of the big names set to play for the Cedars at RLWC2026. @Gettty Images

“As it stands now, we won’t be sending any players for the World Cup,” he said.

“There are a lot of players and a lot of staff leaving the country and migrating so this year we decided it is not a good idea to send players who would just be spectators.

“They wouldn’t be in the squad because they are not up to the standard of the team. We are putting in place a 10-to-15-year plan, where probably by the next World Cup cycle (in 2030) we will have three or four players from the local community, and more and more after that.”

Hachache is the most capped Cedars player and has played in nearly every major international tournament or World Cup qualifying tournament involving Lebanon since 2006.

“I have played for over 20 years, I have played with Josh Mansour, Adam Doueihi, Reece Robinson and Jacob Kiraz, and over the course of those years we played in three World Cup qualifying campaigns,” he said.

“I learned a lot from those players and the team that I was able to take back for the players in Lebanon, but at the moment the players we have in Lebanon have only been playing for a year or two so I don’t see any benefit.

“We might send some officials to shadow the team staff and learn from them, or maybe some coaches who could benefit from being involved.

“But moving forward we are going to work our way up so that hopefully in the next World Cup cycle we will have local players in the World Cup squad.”

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