The Nigeria Rugby League Association has achieved a major milestone in its development after becoming the fourth country to join the International Rugby League accelerator program.

The IRL Accelerator Nation project is designed to increase the value of the Rugby League World Cup by growing the number of competitive countries through activities.

France, Wales and Papua New Guinea were the initial cohort of Accelerator Nations in 2025, with the group subsequently extended to include one nation from each of the Americas and Middle East Africa regions. 

IRL’s Strategy Committee managed a months-long application process which produced Nigeria from four invited MEA applicants. No decision has been made on the Americas nation. 

Subsequently, Nigeria Rugby League Association Vice President, Ade Adebisi, joined senior officials from France and Wales as an embed on the IRL Rugby League World Cup 2026 operations team to gain experience and insights into the management of the biggest event in global rugby league. 

The three-week deployment is the first output of the Accelerator Nation initiative announced by IRL last year. 

Ade Adebisi, alongside Mathilde Marchand and Rob Deeney, are leaders in their national federations and will work at the World Cup, which provides their organizations with invaluable, unique experience at the elite level of Rugby League.

*“What I bring back will go straight into how NRLA operates,”* said Adebisi, Nigerian rugby league’s vice Chair and general manager. 

*“Our players have already shown they can compete internationally, and now our administration needs to match that standard. This experience will help us build stronger systems, better governance and a more professional environment for our athletes, coaches and partners.”*

The accelerator project objectives include the cultivation of pathways from local junior leagues to 13-a-side men’s and women’s leagues, high-quality coaching and high-performance coach development; providing opportunities for local youth or open age representative sides to assemble in training camps and experience elite-level competition through touring IRL member nations with a generally accepted higher standard of play than the Accelerator Nation; and to support selected local player secondment to elite foreign clubs to improve the selected Accelerator Nation player’s on- and off-field standards and experience.

Nigeria is the first African country to join the accelerator project, which aligns with the NRLA's big dream of bringing the world to Nigeria by hosting the International Rugby League World Cup.

*“Our focus is on growth at every level: expanding the game in schools and universities, strengthening both our men's and women's programmes, and developing coaches and officials. We also want to ensure the MEA Championship takes place every year for both men's and women's international teams, delivered to an IRL-recognized standard. We're grateful to Alaro City for their support as a key partner, which is helping us build a sustainable future for the sport in Nigeria. Our long-term ambition is for Nigeria to host a Women's Rugby League World Cup, and this is an important step towards that.”* Adebisi concluded.

As part of preparations for utilizing its new status in International Rugby, the NRLA, in partnership with Alaro City, has set in motion a plan to build a N15bn center of excellence for Rugby League and sports in general.