This past weekend, the 107th General Assembly of Rugby Europe was held in Alicante, Spain. BF Rugby was represented by its General Secretary Pavel Velkov, who took part in the discussions on the 2025 report and the organisation’s activities for 2026.
Bulgaria is positioned excellently on the rugby map of Europe in terms of participation and its development and education programmes. Our country was presented as an example of good practice in the GIR, RRP, cross-border activities and educational programmes. Our standing and performance were highlighted in the presentations of World Rugby and Rugby Europe.
At the meeting, Rugby Greece and Rugby Gibraltar were admitted as new members of the organisation. The Federation of Greece specifically thanked BF Rugby for its support, as well as for the recent historic event, the women’s official test match between the national teams of Bulgaria and Greece in rugby 15.
The new calendar of Rugby Europe competitions for 2026 was also approved, with BF Rugby represented by 9 national teams in terms of participation:
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Rugby 15 men and women – Conference
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Rugby 7 men and women – Conference
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Rugby 7 boys U18 – Trophy
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Beach rugby men and women – Championship
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RE cross-border participation Rugby 15 – U18, U20.
Bulgaria will continue its participation in 2026 in the educational resources provided by World Rugby and the development programmes. In cross-border activities, this very Saturday it will once again host 4 age groups together with Rugby Moldova, and from 2 to 5 April 2026 it will hold a training camp and a test match at U18 and U20 level in Chisinau.
Participation is planned with a rugby 10 national team for children under 12 in May in France, as well as a joint training camp in Bulgaria for boys under 18 with their peers from Rouen, France, in June in Bulgaria.
