Rugby league is a team sport that is relatively new to Greece. History The Greek national team was formed in 2003 by Greek Australians. Rugby league was subsequently introduced to Greece in 2006. The first match played in Greece was contested by the Olympus Eels and Attica Tigers, with the teams consisting of a mixture of local rugby union players and Greek Australians. A few days later on 28 October 2006, Athens hosted an international match against , which Greece won 44–26. The initial attempt to find a Greek RL Federation, started by Colin Mylonas, in 2003. Mylonas and his associates spent a lot of money until 2007, but they failed to form a Greek-based Federation. Colin Mylonas was involved with the continued development of the game until 2010. This included Greece playing in the 2008 University Rugby League World Cup after Russia pulled out. Greece was made up of 10 Australian based players with Greek heritage and 10 players from Greece were flown out to Australia. They achieved great success beating France in the plate Final. In the same tournament, Greece beat Scotland Ireland and came very close in beating England only losing on the bell. This put Greece on the map in playing rugby league. Other achievements included winning the Mediterranean Cup in 2010 played in Sydney beating Italy in the final, in front of 3000 people. Greece also played Fiji in Sydney in 2009 losing but gaining respect as a nation on the rise. Colin Mylonas in 2010 had decided to withdraw from the organisation due to differences in the direction of the Greek Rugby League. The Hellenic Federation of Rugby League (HFRL) was founded in 2013 by Anastasios "Tasos" Pantazidis. The body was recognised by an Athens court and was therefore accorded observer status within the RLEF in August 2013. In February 2014, the HFRL was granted affiliate member status by the RLEF. In April 2016, the HFRL was suspended from the RLEF following a year-long investigation for "wilfully acting in a manner prejudicial to the interests of the RLEF and international rugby league." The HRFL was expelled from the RLEF in August 2016 for failing to meet membership requirements. The HFRL continued to organise a domestic competition through the Hellenic Federation of Modern Pentathlon (HFMP) with the recognition of the Ministry of Culture and Sports. Meanwhile, the RLEF ran a separate, recognised competition in the