Rugby clubs face a perennial cash crunch

At first glance, the sport of rugby union in the United Arab Emirates would appear to be in fine health.

The Arabian Gulf squad recently returned home from the Hong Kong Seven-a-side tournament with heads held high, 15-a-side internationals are on the horizon against India and Kazakhstan, while the under-19s surpassed all expectations this season to win the Asian Championship plate final on Sri Lanka.

The club scene, with one or two exceptions, is buoyant, an increasing number of schools and colleges now have rugby on the curriculum and a record number of youngsters are playing the sport thanks to hard work on the ground by development officer Darryl Weir.

Reasons to celebrate, one would have thought. But John Griffiths, the chairman of the Arabian Gulf RFU, is keeping his feet firmly on the ground as he assesses the state of the union. He said: "I don't like to look purely at the clubs and judge how rugby is doing here. Clubs will be up and down, that's a fact of life, regardless of what we do as a union.

"It's like looking at the outer branches of a tree. What's more important is the new growth, the way the game is developing, and how rugby is doing in schools and colleges.

"In the last three or four years we have put in place a lot of programmes with the result that there has been a great surge in playing numbers. Parents are even asking schools 'do you play rugby?' before deciding whether to send their kids there."

Griffiths is unapologetic about the stance he has taken as chairman to improve the strength and standing of rugby in the Gulf. "The ladies are playing internationally, our under-19s are up and running and the men have played more international rugby in the last 18 months than in probably the last 10 years," he said.

"Is that wrong? I don't think so. It's up to the clubs to fulfil their league commitments and make sure their best players are selected to play at international level; it's up to us as a union to lift the profile of the sport and keep things moving forward. That's what we are trying to do."

The clubs, though, face a constant battle to keep their heads above water, particularly those - Doha, Dubai Exiles, Bahrain, Muscat, Kuwait Nomads and Abu Dhabi - who compete in the Gulf League and incur enormous travelling expenses over the course of the short season. Even the Exiles, the biggest and strongest club in the UAE, can take nothing for granted.

"We are now a business," said chairman Jim Lees. "To keep rugby going we have to look to other sports, like Gaelic football, to keep revenue coming in. "None of us are under any illusions about how difficult it is. There wouldn't be any of this (the club) if it were not for the Dubai 7s. It's brought Dubai to the attention of the rugby world and it has benefited the Arabian Gulf. But take it away and the Arabian Gulf would go."

Linda Gordon, also of the Exiles, said the biggest problem facing clubs in the Gulf League is money. "Clubs are finding it very difficult to travel because of the costs," she said. "Bahrain used to be our cheapest away game, costing around Dh500 a player. That's nearly doubled because airfares have gone up, airport taxes have gone up and the cost of visas. Going to Kuwait is horrendous. It works out at about Dh2,000 a player."

Mina Seyahi Hurricanes, formed only two years ago, know all about the projected costs of playing rugby. The club is about to submit an application to join next season's Gulf League and estimates that it needs to raise Dh140,000-Dh150,000 in order to fulfill its commitments.

"That's what we think we need to be able to afford to join, and we're fairly confident that we can do it," said chairman Jonathan Elcombe.

"It's our biggest concern, but we are speaking to sponsors and believe that we can do it. We also probably need another 15 to 20 players to make sure that we have enough people to travel. It has always been our goal to move into the league but we first needed to establish the club and our reputation."

While the Hurricanes are ready to step up a level and fill the slot in the Gulf League vacated by Sharjah Wanderers, the Al Ain club is simply battling to survive after losing a large number of players.

"Club spirit is good and our finances are good," said chairman Alan Whitcombe. "But our playing numbers have dwindled - we lost a lot of players in one go when one company moved out - and we're down to a hard core of around nine or ten.

"We were in the Gulf Cup final three years ago. We've gone from being at the top to virtually zero but we will battle on and keep the club alive. It just needs an influx of people and things can change very quickly."

Rugby is in better health in Abu Dhabi, despite the club being forced to move around this season because of on-going pitch problems.

Chairman Robin Penman said: "The club is generally healthy. In the five years I've been here, I wouldn't say we are any better or any worse off, people come in and people go.

"Our first team has changed a lot over the last couple of years and we definitely have a much younger side. "We are lucky to have good sponsors. It takes Dh150,000 to run the first team and that's what we have to raise every year."

Apart from sharing perennial financial concerns, one other factor unites rugby clubs in the UAE - lack of rugby. Mike Lalor, of the Dragons, said: "We don't have the player base to be able to play in the Gulf League, we rely on playing friendlies against visiting Navy ships to keep going.

"Two years ago we had 14 or 15 matches, this year we've had three or four and that's a problem. It's a self-generating thing – if you have games, people train and play.

"It's hard work for us at the moment. More matches would make it easier."

Linda Gordon of the Exiles agreed. "It's feast or famine," she said. "We went the first part of the season - around three months - without a game," she said. "Now we've got one a week. The Gulf League is frustrating because you don't get any continuity, it's nothing or a lot."

John Griffiths acknowledges the annual rush to squeeze in games before the weather makes rugby impossible. "Fixtures will be completed, I'm confident about that," he said.

"There is the usual bottleneck but that's something for the clubs to deal with. It's disappointing that an Emirates League (for clubs in the UAE) did not happen this year.

"The number at players at senior level in the UAE is just not sufficient at the moment but what is assured is that the clubs are there and more players may arrive next season - and if that happens then the Emirates League will be up and running once more."