The South American Championship (SAC) has been postponed. It has been rescheduled for November 2027. The tournament was set to be played in November in Chile, but unforeseen issues related to increased travel costs for competing teams have cropped up in the recent past.
International airlines have increased airfares, and in some cases, cancelled services due to the rising cost of jet fuel. Airlines have said those decisions are the result of the US-Israel war with Iran which has had had a big impact on the price of oil. They say blockades which have led to the opening and closing of the Strait of Hormuz and the effects that has had on limiting ships transporting oil through the Strait, have forced up the price of jet fuel, diesel and gasoline around the world.
President of the Chilean Rugby League, Rod Millar, said travel costs for teams that need to fly to Chile for the tournament is one of the main reasons for the postponement as those nations don’t have much in the way of international funding to fall back on. However, he said given they now have an extra year to prepare for the Championship, they expect to be able to overcome that setback.
“I have acquired the signatures of Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Chile to present themselves in November 2027,” said Millar. “This will be the 10th anniversary of the SAC since all four nations participated in Chile in 2017. Since then, we have had tournaments in Brazil, Colombia and in 2024 in Argentina, so we’ve done a full circle and a huge achievement of all nations that have participated over the years.
“Chile is now working extremely hard to ensure this is a successful SAC and genuinely promotes Rugby League within the Latin nations. Antofagasta is looking like the most likely city to host the SAC; however, Santiago is still not out of the question.” Millar added that hopefully the governing bodies of the South American nations taking part in the Championship next year might be granted some extra funding by the International Rugby League (IRL) after the Rugby League World Cup.
The Chilean Weichafes are the defending champions having won the SAC in Buenos Aires in 2024. All three competing teams Chile, Argentina and Brazil finished with 1-1 records, but the Chileans had the best for-and-against points differential, so they clinched the title. Brazil went into the tournament as the two-time defending South American champions.
