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The 2013 Rugby League World Cup will be held in the United Kingdom.
The decision was made at a meeting of the Rugby League International Federation in Singapore to discuss the future of the international calendar.
Australia had also submitted a bid to stage the event again after the success of the 2008 tournament.
But it will return to the UK, which last hosted it in 2000, and be delayed by a year to avoid a clash with the 2012 Olympics in London.
New Zealand ended Australia's long stranglehold on the trophy with a surprise 34-20 victory in the final of the 2008 tournament.
Richard Lewis, the deputy chairman of the RLIF and executive chairman of the Rugby Football League, said: "It is a great boost for rugby league in the northern hemisphere to secure the World Cup in 2013.
"I thought that the 2008 tournament was an outstanding success and our goal is to build on that success and to deliver a profitable tournament that further enhances the international prestige of rugby league."
Although the RFL says the matches will be focussed around the game's heartland areas in the north of England, it is speaking to various agencies about the possibility of staging games in London, Wales and Scotland.
The 2000 World Cup was hampered by bad weather and proved a financial disaster, leaving the RFL in debt.
But last autumn's event in Australia was a success, attracting combined crowds of 290,000 and a global television audience of 19.2m, making it the most widely broadcast event in the game's history.
The RLIF also agreed that in future, there will be no Four Nations tournament staged in the year prior to a World Cup with Test schedules between nations being developed.
The 2009 and 2011 Four Nations will be staged in England with both Australia and New Zealand hosting it in 2010 and Australia the next hosts after the World Cup in 2014.
The event would be an integral part of the so-called "golden decade" of sport in the UK, along with the 2012 Olympics in London, the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and also the 2018 football World Cup, which the Football Association is hopeful of bringing to English soil.
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That's amazing news ! I just can't wait, it's not so far away.
May I just add it's not about XV players rugby but XIII players rugby but it's still amazing news.
28-07-2009, 01:13 PM
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UK to host 2013 Rugby League World Cup.
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