The NSW Rugby Union hosted an international sevens tournament at Concord Oval in Sydney from 1986 to 1988, as part of Australia's Bicentennial celebrations.[3] Brisbane's hosting rights for 2001 were withdrawn by the IRB because of the Australian Federal Government's sporting boycott of Fiji,[4] imposed after the 2000 Fijian coup d'état.[5] After sanctions were lifted later in 2001,[6] the remaining two tournaments of Brisbane's four-year hosting agreement were played and won by Australia and England in 2002 and 2003 respectively.In April 2011, the ARU announced that the Australian leg of the Sevens World Series would be played at Skilled Park on the Gold Coast for at least the next four years.[10] The tournament was scheduled for the early part of the 2011/12 season, which meant that two World Sevens events were played in Australia in 2011.