The Daily Telegraph published a story titled: Covering Logo “Act of disrespect’ written by Mr. Michael Carayannis on June 22, 2019.
Here is the full Q & A with LRLF Chief Executive Officer Nayef Abi Said.
1/ How long have you been CEO?
I was appointed on May 1st 2019
2/ How did you come about being CEO?
It was standard hiring procedure. The position was publicly advertised and I applied. I was shortlisted and went through the process of two rounds of interviews and ultimately, appointed.
3/ What was your reaction to the stance of the players to patch up the logo?
Definitely Outraged. Our national team name story is not mundane, it reflects the history and struggle of our people from more than 10,000 year ago.The Cedar tree is the symbol that unites all Lebanese thus our outrage regarding this detestable act. We notice how other Lebanese national sports federation are following our footsteps and referring to their respective sport national teams as Cedars. National team players should be proud of representing their country and it is a great honor bestowed on any player to represent Lebanon. Patching any logo on the jersey is not permitted at all, it is a sign of disrespect, it is not a protest.
How would the Australian public feel if players they patched the coat of arms? How would their club fans feel if they patch their respective NRL club logo? I always welcome constructive criticism, but to denigrate a national emblem rather than articulate one’s grievances is destructive.
4/ Would the LRLF make good on their promise to try and have the players persecuted?
I am assuming your question was meant to read “prosecuted” rather than “persecuted”?
I will assume the former and in answer one needs to understand that under Lebanese penal law (and that of many countries), desecration of national symbols is a criminal offence punishable by imprisonment. By highlighting this fact, the LRLF hopes to deter such actions thereby avoiding both the LRLF and its players from facing public prosecution. Simply put, we do not believe Robbie Farah nor the players understood or even considered the ramifications of their actions. If they don’t carry out their threats the prosecutor should normally call off the investigation – a good result for all parties
5/ How would you describe the LRLF relationship with the players?
The LRLF has operated in Lebanon since 2002. Our player base is young and the difficulty in acquiring resources for a small sport means that our investment into the game is not as high as we would like. However, our key partners are universities and they provide excellent infrastructure and facilities.
LRLF’s relationship with Australia and the Australian-Lebanese community is excellent. We have received a lot of support from the Australian government and the diaspora. However, it is true to say that we have faced three, what can be described as, hostile takeover bids from Australia. Lebanese rugby league is for Lebanon and the Lebanese – which includes the patriotic diaspora. One lesson we have taken forward is that communications with the players could be improved, and we have a subsidiary entity in Australia as well as Australian-based staff that can do that – but direct comms from me as CEO will now be more forthcoming.
6/ What is the state of the domestic competition? (Outside of the university competition and then including the uni competition)
When the boycott was announced last March, we took it as an opportunity. We analyzed the last few years and admitted mistakes have been made, which had resulted in lowering standards. We addressed them through a reform agenda which has seen the adoption of a new constitution, operational rules, membership policy and participation agreement, all intended to raise standards. We elected a new board and, in keeping with best practice, have 4 independent directors on the 6-strong board. Three of those independents had no previous relationship with rugby league at all. They are all highly skilled and successful people and it’s the best board LRLF has ever had, with all due respect to previous boards.
In 2018-19 we did not play a club championship (there are five registered clubs) because none of them met the new club eligibility standards. We are now committed to nurturing clubs, not teams. Three of the five clubs are now compliant.
In addition to the clubs, our bulwark competitions are in the tertiary section, with eight universities playing. The universities founded Lebanese rugby league in 2002. The best universities in the country are rugby league institutions and our strategy intend on strengthening the legal bond between the LRLF and those institutions.
At junior level we have schools’ competitions in Mt Lebanon and the North, with nine teams playing. Seven of them are schools but our strategic imperative is to create youth teams in our clubs.
7/ Some local players have written "boycott" on their jersey in a recent game in Turkey. What was that about?
That was a team (not a club) that wanted to join the LRLF from rugby union but did not apply to join the general assembly. They played a Turkish rugby union club, we were informed by the Turkish Rugby League Association. When they commenced the application process, the LRLF supported them with kit and inclusion in the championship but they did not apply. They are free to join should they choose.
8/ Do you welcome the RLIF decision to investigate the LRLF?
There is no RLIF investigation into the LRLF. The RLIF CEO has asked for any grievances from the protesting group in Australia to be put in writing, at which point we expect to receive those grievances. It is worth nothing that we asked every player to lodge any grievances with us last year but there were none. This is because there are no real issues. Some of the issues cited by certain national team players past and present in the media are pretexts to further their own ends. We welcome all scrutiny. We are heavily scrutinized by the RLIF and the Ministry of Youth and Sport. We are granted tax payers money and our governance and financial controls are robust. Grievances can only be addressed if they are articulated and openly discussed. Protests in the absence of specific criticisms and proposed viable solutions are somewhat difficult to deal with.
9/ How can the board be better to ensure problems like this do not occur?
We cannot legislate for personal agendas and how those might affect individuals’ behavior in the future, but we can continue with our reform agenda to ensure that people that operate within the LRLF ecosystem do so within a clear framework. Our new strategy will set out clearly our vision and mission and how we intend achieving our goal of improving Lebanon’s civil society through rugby league’s core values. We encourage dialogue between players and the federation but stress that we have never been given any valid reason why there is a protest against us in the first place nor how we can bring about a workable solution.
