NAIROBI, May 7 (Xinhua) -- South Africa and Tunisia are the two African countries that have expressed interest to host the Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022.
Eleven candidates from five continents have made formal bids to stage rugby's biggest sporting festival.
They are Argentina, Cayman Islands, France, Germany, India, Jamaica, Malaysia, Qatar, Scotland, South Africa and Tunisia.
World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont said the Rugby World Cup Sevens is a major event and is an attractive proposition for countries and cities.
"We are delighted with the record level of interest. With a core objective of growing the global rugby fan and participation footprint, it is superb to see new interest from emerging rugby nations, which is great for the sport," said Beaumont in a statement on Tuesday.
"We now move forward to a detailed phase of consultation and evaluation against set operational, team, fan and legacy criteria before the World Rugby Council selects the 2022 host at the interim meeting in Tokyo in October," said Beaumont.
Beaumont said the success and spectacle of the event was a major factor behind sevens' inclusion in the Olympic Games program, debuting in style at Rio 2016. The 2018 edition in San Francisco was a resounding success.
The World Cup Sevens 2018 attracted a record attendance for a rugby event in the USA of 100,000, generated a record domestic broadcast audience of more than nine million and showcased the very best of San Francisco and rugby to a global broadcast audience in 224 territories.
"The tournament generated a 905 million shillings (90.5 million U.S. dollars) in the economy," added Beaumont.
Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022 will be played during September and October after the conclusion of the World Series and the Commonwealth Games.
The event will comprise 24 men's and 16 women's teams and will be played over three days. Enditem
