Rugby League: Lindsay's expansion programme

BRITISH officials are to make flying visits to three emerging rugby league areas in the next month to assess their potential and offer help and advice, writes Dave Hadfield.

The delegations, each headed by the League's chief executive, Maurice Lindsay, will go to the former Soviet Union and South Africa. There are fears in both those countries that the game's prospects are being harmed by the lack of an effective central administration.

Lindsay will also take a working party to Morocco, where the former Fulham player, Hussain M'Barki, has recently been appointed as the the country's first development officer for the code. 'These are not holidays, but very quick working visits,' David Howes, the League's public affairs executive, said.

'They are important because apart from any immediate help we can give, the door is now open for them to be added to the World Cup in 1995,' he added.

The former Labour Party leader, Neil Kinnock, has added his voice to calls for Wales, omitted from the original blueprint for the tournament, to be included.