Asian Rugby Football Union changes name to Asia Rugby

The Asian Rugby Football Union has changed its official name to Asia Rugby.

The change was announced at the conclusion of the ARFU Mid-Year Council Meeting in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on 31 May.

The move aligns Asia Rugby with the former International Rugby Board’s change of name to World Rugby, and with the recent name changes announced by other regional associations.

“Changing the name to Asia Rugby brings us further in line with World Rugby and other Regional Associations,” said Asia Rugby President Trevor Gregory. “As the official governing body for Rugby in a culturally and linguistically diverse region, the change of name to Asia Rugby will improve our outreach efforts and further enhance our visibility, helping us to grow the Game in the world’s most populous region.”

Founded in 1968 with eight founding members (Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, South Korea and Thailand), Asia Rugby has grown to 32 members – 16 of which are full World Rugby member unions.

Asia Rugby covers an area spanning Kazakhstan in the north, to Indonesia in the south, and from Lebanon in the west, to Guam in the east – a territory of over 44 square million kilometres and home to more than 3 billion people.

ARFU is the sanctioning body and organiser of the region’s elite sevens and 15s competitions – for both men and women – including the Asia Rugby Championship and Asia Rugby Women’s Championship (both of which serve as the official qualification process for the region for the Rugby World Cup and Women’s Rugby World Cup), as well as the Asia Rugby Sevens Series and Asia Rugby Women’s Sevens Series.