Cedars stripped of win after having two players disqualified
Lebanon have been stripped of their World Cup 9s victory over France due to using an under-age player in that match.
Lebanon coach Rick Stone refused to blame the disqualification the players for his team falling short of a shock semi-final berth at the tournament.
The Cedars and Papua New Guinea's women's team were forced to play without two squad members each after tournament organisers advised that players who had not yet turned 18 were ineligible.
North Queensland's Jacob Kiraz had lined up for Lebanon in their first game against France on Friday but sat out of Saturday's win over England and loss to Wales.
Under International Rugby League rules, players only need to be 16 to play for their countries and Kiraz played for Lebanon in the mid-year Test against Fiji at Leichhardt Oval.
However, he and Cronulla SG Ball centre Jordan Samrani were not allowed to play in the World Cup 9s due to that tournament's rules.
Lebanon have been stripped of the points earned in the France match, but the competition points were not awarded to France.
Orchids players Joyce Waula, 16, who was a member of the PNG women's Nines team which won the silver medal at this year's Pacific Games, and 17-year-old Brisbane schoolgirl Sera Koroi, were also unable to play.
An appeal to tournament organisers after Friday night's round of matches was unsuccessful due to health and safety concerns.
IRL chief executive Nigel Wood said players had to be 18 to participate in the World Cup 9s at Bankwest Stadium and that was communicated to all nations.
"That's why the decisions have been taken… you'd prefer to be looking at the on-field action and not off-field stories. It's regrettable and something that everything has to learn from – tournament organisers, us as the federation and also the nations themselves," Wood said.
"At the end of the day nations have to pick players eligible."
Woods's words seem at odds with some nations NRL.com spoke to, who said there was no age given in the tournament manual. The IRL allows 16-year-olds to play internationals but they must have permission from a parent or guardian as they are under 18. In the case of the two PNG women players, they had that permission.
"The rules for this tournament were clear and unequivocal. You had to be 18," Woods said, when told of some nations believed IRL laws were the standard.
"We are looking at that generally, because I think there is a little confusion. So we are working through those rules because it's in everyone's interest to be as clear as possible – and this tournament it was absolutely clear."
Wood said there would be no further consequences for Lebanon, as they had already been docked two competition points.
While IRL rules allow 16-year-olds to play, players can not debut in the NRL until they have turned 18.
With the majority of the players in the World Cup 9s from the NRL and Super League competitions, tournament organisers were concerned about players yet to turn 18 playing against professionals and semi-professionals.
The Cedars, whose squad did not include any current NRL players, shocked England 16-13 on Saturday and after beating France on Friday night only needed to win against Wales to ensure a stunning semi-final berth.
However, Lebanon coach Rick Stone refused to blame the loss of Kiraz and Samrani for the loss to the Dragons.
"We were struggling for players actually when we selected our squad and we ended up having two players who were under the age of 18," Stone said.
"Obviously we couldn't play them. It wasn't a big issue, it didn't change too much for us. We played everyone in the game that was over 18 and we weren't good enough.
"We were a little bit tired. We're a pretty young side, been up for the first couple of games and probably lacked a little bit of zip and energy in that game [against Wales]. That's just the way it goes."
Lebanon and PNG officials did not become aware of any eligibility issues until Thursday night and it was too late to call in replacements.
"Jacob Kiraz played for us in the June Test and we were under the impression the rules were going to be the same," Stone said.
"Obviously the NRL is running the game on behalf of the international body and you have to be 18 to play in the NRL and they've obviously transferred those rules across.
"We didn't have to make any changes to our team because those boys hadn't played yet. That was the story."
The Cedars are rebuilding ahead of the 2021 World Cup after the retirement of Robbie Farah and Tim Mannah, while some other NRL players did not play due to a dispute with the Lebanon board.
Stone said he hopes the issue can be resolved soon.
"We'd all love to see that," he said. "We've got to a position where we've probably got 10 players who are playing in the NRL of Lebanese descent. They're eligible to play for us and it'd be great to see those boys playing with some of the young blokes."
https://www.nrl.com/news/2019/10/19...-semis-after-having-two-players-disqualified/