MEA Rugby League Championships
[1] The MEA Championships was founded in 2015 as the 2017 Rugby League World Cup qualification (Middle East-Africa play-off) between Lebanon and South Africa.The tournament was reborn in 2019 under the name "Middle East and Africa Championship", with the inaugural reformatted version being hosted in Lagos.[2] In 2019, The European Rugby League announced an additional tournament will be played in 2020 with Burundi, Lebanon, Nigeria, and South Africa bidding to host.Following an announcement in 2020, the tournament would take the name "Middle East and Africa Cup" setting the basis of the two tiered competition.[4] The scheduled for 2022 competition would act as qualification for the 2025 Men's Rugby League World Cup,[5] and be played in Ghana[6] using the same format.