SYDNEY (AP) — Australia's National Rugby League is set to expand its sporting footprint more than 3,000 kilometers (1,860 miles) west of Sydney a year ahead of going a similar distance in another direction to add another new team in the South Pacific.
The Australian Rugby League Commission on Thursday said it had agreed in principle to a revised proposal from the Western Australia state government for an NRL franchise in Perth, the state capital. It is set to begin play in 2027.
A team in rugby league-mad Papua New Guinea is set to enter the NRL in 2028, making it a 19-team competition, with 20 clubs being the league’s ambition.
Papua New Guinea's capital Port Moresby, where the team would be based, is 2,700 kilometers (1,700 miles) north of Sydney.
The in-principle agreement for the Perth franchise, likely to be known as the Perth Bears, must also be signed off by the existing 17 clubs and the Rugby League Players’ Association.
Australia's premier rugby league competition originated in Sydney but has expanded to include a team in New Zealand, a team in the national capital, Canberra, a team in Victoria state capital, Melbourne, and four teams in Queensland state.
Perth previously had a rugby league franchise, the Western Reds, in a nation-wide competition in the mid-1990s but the club was disbanded in 1997.
Rugby league is a 13-a-side game played mostly in the Australasia and northern England. Rugby union is traditionally a 15-a-side game with a global footprint.
There's a rugby union franchise, known as the Western Force, in the Super Rugby competition that takes in teams from Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and the Pacific islands.
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FILE - Canberra Raiders Matthew Timoko is tackled by defenders during the opening match of Australia's National Rugby League competition between the Canberra Raiders and the New Zealand Warriors at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, on March 1, 2025. (AP Photo/David Becker, File)
MADRID (AP) — Spain's airport authority will start to limit access to Madrid's airport during some parts of the day as a preventive measure to stop more homeless people from sleeping in its terminals.
Only travelers with boarding passes, airport employees and those accompanying someone with a ticket will be allowed to enter the airport during hours with few departing and arriving flights, Spain's airport authority AENA said late Wednesday night.
AENA said the limits would be implemented sometime in the the next few days, but did not specify exactly when or during what hours of the day.
For months, the Spanish capital's airport has seen homeless encampments in some of its terminals with individuals in sleeping bags occupying space near walls and bathrooms. Local media described the number of homeless people to be in the hundreds.
This week, AENA said it had asked Madrid city officials for help in addressing the problem months ago, but so far has received insufficient help.
“Airports are not places designed for living in, but rather are infrastructure solely for transit, which in no case offers adequate conditions for overnight stays,” AENA said in a statement Wednesday.
A political blame game between authorities at different levels of government has left the issue largely unaddressed before the peak summer travel season.
Spain received a record 94 million international tourists in 2024.
People sleep on the floor of Terminal 4 at Adolfo Suarez-Madrid Barajas Airport in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
People sleep on the floor of Terminal 4 at Adolfo Suarez-Madrid Barajas Airport in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
People sleep on the floor of Terminal 4 at Adolfo Suarez-Madrid Barajas Airport in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
People sleep on the floor of Terminal 4 at Adolfo Suarez-Madrid Barajas Airport in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
FILE - Iberia jets are seen in a parking zone as police walk through the airport during a Iberia airline workers strike at Barajas international airport in Madrid, Spain, Tuesday, March 5, 2013. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki, File)
A person sleeps on the floor of Terminal 4 at Adolfo Suárez-Madrid Barajas Airport in Madrid, Spain, Monday, May 12, 2025. (Diego Radames/Europa Press via AP)
