| Fédération Internationale de Rugby Amateur - Association Européenne de Rugby | |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1934 |
| Type | Sports federation |
| Headquarters | France |
| Membership | 44 unions |
| Chairman | Jean-Claude Baqué |
| Website | http://www.fira-aer-rugby.com/ |
The FIRA - Association Européenne de Rugby (FIRA–AER) is the administrative body for rugby union in Europe. It was formed in 1999 to promote, develop, organise and administer the game of rugby in Europe under the authority of the International Rugby Board (the world governing body of rugby union).
The predecessor to FIRA–AER was the Fédération Internationale de Rugby Amateur (FIRA). FIRA was formed in 1934 to promote, develop, organise and administer the game of rugby union in Europe outside the authority of the International Rugby Football Board (as the International Rugby Board was then called), and quickly came to spread outside the continent. FIRA agreed to come under the auspices of the IRB in the 1990s, changed its name and returned to being a European body.
Until its eventual merger with the IRB, FIRA was the most multinational rugby organisation in the world, partly because the IRB had concentrated far too much on the English speaking Home Nations, Tri Nations and France. FIRA has generally been a positive force in spreading sport beyond the Anglosphere.[1] In 1987, the IRB' Rugby World Cup helped make the body a more international concern.
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For many years, the sport’s authorities had suspected that the governing body of French rugby union, the French Rugby Federation (FFR) was allowing the abuse of the rules on amateurism, and in 1931 the French Rugby Union was suspended from playing against the other IRB nations. As a result, Fédération Internationale de Rugby Amateur (FIRA) was founded in 1932.[1]
In 1934 the Association was formed at the instigation of the French. It was designed to organise rugby union outside the authority of the International Rugby Football Board (as it was known at the time). The founder members were Italy, Romania, Netherlands, Catalonia, Portugal, Czechoslovakia, and Sweden.[1][2]
The European championship organised by FIRA included the national teams of Italy, France, Spain, Catalonia (later abolished by Franco), Czechoslovakia, Romania and Germany.
Unfortunately because of this Continental European rugby came under the influence of hard right wing regimes, such as Fascist Italy, and authoritarian Romania, and Nazi Germany. A few years later, Catalonia was replaced by Spain, when Generalissimo Franco forcibly merged Catalonia into Spanish rugby.
After the war, with the demise of the Axis, the hard right influence more or less stopped (with the exception of Spain), but FIRA instead would end up contending with the Communist domination of the Warsaw Pact countries. Of these states, four would cease to exist - the USSR, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia dividing into their component countries, and East Germany merging with the West. In 1979, members of FIRA included the Soviet Union, Romania, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Denmark.[2]
In 1965, FIRA inaugurated the FIRA Nation's Cup, and in 1974 the FIRA Championship, which provided valuable international competition for European countries outside the 5N.[3] This was played in three divisions, including virtually every country in Continental Europe.[3] It would later expand its horizons, taking in Morocco, Tunisia and other non-European countries.[1][3] France invariably entered a team into it, as well as the Five Nations, usually a France A-team, and Italy, before joining the Six Nations Championship also used to play in it.[3] The Tier 2 nations of Georgia and Romania currently compete in the championship, as well, as Spain and Portugal both of whom have been in Rugby World Cups. The first division competition was nearly always won by France, although the Soviet Union won it once, and Romania won it at least five times, and Italy won it once or twice.[3]
In the 1980s, the IRB began to drop its Anglo-Saxon bias, and started inviting every rugby playing country to join it.[1] This, along with the IRB's decision to embrace the concept of a Rugby World Cup.[1]
In 1990s the FIRA recognised the IRB as the governing body of rugby union world wide and after negotiations with the IRB, it agreed to integrate itself within the IRB. In 1999 it changed its name to "FIRA – Association of European Rugby" (FIRA–AER.), to promote and rule over rugby union in the European area and to run the junior world championship. FIRA-AER. organised both the under-19 and under-21 world championships until IRB folded them into the under-20 Junior World Championship and Junior World Trophy in 2008.
37 Unions are full IRB members
3 Unions are associate IRB members
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4 Unions are not affiliated with the IRB
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