UK secures Rugby League World Cup

(GETTY IMAGES)

The 2013 World Cup will be held in the United Kingdom, the Rugby League International Federation have confirmed.

A decision was made at a meeting of the RFIF in Singapore to discuss the future of the international calendar.

Australia had been interested in hosting the event again after the success of the 2008 tournament but it will now return to the UK, which last staged it in 2000.

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."