Emirates 7’s Asia Rugby Clubs Cup Launched – How Did it Come About and Will it Succeed?

Asia Rugby, when they announced their 2026 calendar of events, had blocked out the start of July for a new competition, and have now announced the launch of the Emirates 7’s Asia Rugby Clubs Cup. It will be hosted in Colombo, Sri Lanka, from 4-5 July 2026 and is due to include Men’s and Women’s 7s club teams in its first edition.

*April 2026 – We have made some updates, as there have been some responses online to the questions that we have raised in this article (although not directly aimed at us). They also changed the format and number of teams set to compete. Originally, only Men’s teams were set to compete.

What is the Emirates 7’s Asia Rugby Clubs Cup?

At first, Asia Rugby announced that the Emirates 7’s Asia Rugby Clubs Cup will feature eight men’s Sevens club teams from across Asia competing across 20 matches on 4-5 July 2026, with matches due to take place in the evening.

On March 17, they said, “Following the initial announcement of the tournament, the event will expand to include 8 men’s and 8 women’s club teams, invited through their unions from the top 12 ranked Asia Rugby Emirates Sevens Series unions.”

The tournament will be broadcast live, confirmed Asia Rugby, which said the annual event is “signed as a flagship annual event, aiming to become synonymous with elite performance, entertainment and community engagement, with future expansion plans to include both men’s and women’s divisions.”

The Emirates 7’s Asia Rugby Clubs Cup 2026 will offer prize money (now updated by the Asia Rugby President to be a US $20,000 prize pool, awarded to the champions, runners-up and bronze medalists), and no information has been provided publicly on whether the costs for travelling club teams will be covered by the organisers (or how they will be selected).

They have (since we posted this article) confirmed that participation will be by invitation only.

Qais Al Dhalai, President of Asia Rugby, said: “With the launch of the Emirates 7’s Asia Rugby Clubs Sevens Cup, Asia Rugby is proud to introduce the first official continental club rugby sevens competition in the history of the sport.

With the support of our partner UUDS AERO, this competition will quickly become one of the most prestigious club sevens tournaments globally. Importantly, the tournament will feature prize money for the champions, runners-up, and bronze medalists, further elevating the professional standards of club rugby in Asia and creating a competition that clubs across the continent and in time from other regions will aspire to participate in”

Photo Credit – Asia Rugby

Nice words, but tough to swallow. The region does not struggle for high-level Sevens or Tens rugby tournaments and already has some of the most prestigious events on the planet when you consider the HKFC 10s, SCC7s, Cobra Tens, and many more.

Manoj Bogoda, Group CSO, UUDS AERO and CEO of UUDS AERO DWC commented, “At UUDS AERO, we are proud to inspire and support initiatives that create meaningful impact. Rugby reflects the values we believe in: teamwork, discipline and resilience. Supporting the Asia Rugby Emirates Clubs Cup is a natural extension of our commitment to empowering communities and building sustainable pathways in sport.”

Cautious Optimism – Devil in the Details

Asia Rugby will be overseeing competition administration and operational collaboration with the host union, Sri Lanka Rugby union. Bear in mind that financial and governance concerns still linger strongly with Asia Rugby, which we have covered previously, as they are still under intense World Rugby scrutiny and are still suspended from the World Rugby Council.

There has been a lot of animosity between the regional governing body and the SLR in the past, but it is a newly elected SLR union forging its own path.

In the press release today to launch the tournament, Asia Rugby confirmed it signed a multi-year partnership with UUDS AERO.

UUDS AERO DWC LLC is a prominent provider of aviation and aerospace services, based in Dubai. The company specialises in high-quality engineering, maintenance, and cabin interior solutions, serving a global clientele with a commitment to excellence and technological advancement.

The company has ties to the existing sole commercial partner of Asia Rugby (as well as the UAERF), Emirates. The global airline also signed World Rugby’s biggest commercial partnership.

Asia Rugby has not actually said what UUDS AERO will be contributing or covering for the annual tournament in its multi-year partnership. It has also not been announced whether Emirates, as a title sponsor, is providing additional funding to cover the tournament or whether the existing agreement with Asia Rugby means it has sponsorship rights to this new event.

Connecting the Dots – How the Emirates 7’s Asia Rugby Clubs Cup Came About

UAERF & UUDS AERO DWC LLC Sign a Partnership – January 2026

Photo Credit – UAERF

The UAE Rugby Federation (UAERF) and UUDS AERO DWC LLC signed a three-year strategic partnership on January 15, 2026, and they said at the time, “This collaboration is designed to accelerate the development of Emirati rugby talent and solidify the nation’s standing on the global sporting stage.”

The partnership was set to aid the “UAE Rugby Talent Development Pathways” and focus on:

• High-performance training environments
• Expanding international competition opportunities
• Supporting the next generation of Emirati athletes through the Federation’s elite development initiatives, including the Shaheen (Men’s) and Al Maha (Women’s) programs.
• Launch of a UAE Rugby UUDS 10s Championship and the company as the Title Sponsor
• UUDS AERO DWC LLC will have logo placement on the match shorts of the UAE National Teams and the Shaheen development squad.

Mohamed Al Zaabi, Secretary General for the UAE Rugby Federation, said, “This partnership with UUDS AERO DWC LLC marks a pivotal moment for rugby in the Emirates.

By aligning with a forward-thinking partner like UUDS, we are securing the resources necessary to elevate our national teams and provide our young athletes with world-class pathways to excellence. Together, we are building a sustainable future for the sport that reflects the UAE’s spirit of ambition and achievement.”

As a reminder, the Asia Rugby President is the Vice President at the UAERF too.

Asia Rugby CEO Visits UUDS February 2026

The outgoing Asia Rugby CEO, Benjamin van Rooyen, visited the UUDS company site in the UAE in February 2026, and posted about the visit online, saying that it was a “productive discussion on future partnerships and strengthening rugby standards across the region.”

CEO of UUDS, Mr Manoj Bogoda, said they have a strong interest in expanding this partnership further, with a shared vision of uplifting the game and supporting key stakeholders across the region.

Photo Credit -UUDS Aero

Emirates 7’s Asia Rugby Clubs Cup Launched – March 2026

That leads us to the new competition announcement. As per the above, the tangled web of relationships and partners behind the tournament has a strong UAERF and Western Asia presence and a lot of the details are still hidden from public view.

Asia Rugby and the CASA vs SEARF Rift

Context in the backdrop to the regional allegiances here is important. When the SEARF (South East Asian Rugby Federation) was launched in May 2025, it was no secret that it annoyed the Asia Rugby President.

The group (which is still not a registered legal entity, it should be remembered) has launched the Unions Cup (Men’s XV) and the SEA Women’s XVs Championship 2026. They have also signed MoUs with Chinese Taipei Rugby, Hong Kong China Rugby, Japan Rugby Football Union and the Korea Rugby Union.

Photo Credit – SEARF

In response, even after the bitterness expressed about the formation of the SEARF in 2025, CASA was announced in February 2026.

The first person to promote them and endorse the group consisting of Central Asia and South Asia rugby unions was none other than the Asia Rugby President. CASA counts among its members Iran, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Mongolia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan.

Timing of the Emirates 7’s Asia Rugby Clubs Cup

The domestic rugby club scene across Asia doesn’t really have any regulated, aligned calendar, and the countries and regions have their domestic seasons run at different times of the year.

The timing of the new Emirates 7’s Asia Rugby Clubs Cup tournament also favours those in CASA. The dates for the 2026 tournament are potentially the same as the SEARF Unions Cup (which could feature up to 8 national Men’s XVs teams), which is due to be hosted in Thailand in July 2026, and is the same weekend as the newly launched World Rugby Nations Championship and Trophy 2026 tournaments, which will feature the Japanese and Hong Kong China Men’s XV teams from Asia.

• Globally, the GMR Rugby Premier League was also launched in 2025. Although there has been little news for the competition in 2026, the tournament final took place in Mumbai on June 29, 2025, and a similar date in 2026 would see it end a week before this new tournament from Asia Rugby takes place.
• The newly proposed Ultimate Sevens global franchise rugby sevens league is also touted to start, potentially with an August 2026 launch date.

So we wait and see. What clubs will be interested and confirmed to be competing, and from which countries? How will the clubs be funded? As important, will there be a favourable response to the new tournament in a calendar congested with 7s tournaments?

Asian Tournament Rugby News

• Asian International Rugby Tournaments 2026.
• SEA Women’s XV Championship 2026 – Tournament Preview.
• The Best Social 2026 Rugby Tournaments In Asia.
• Guam To Join the Expanded Unions Cup from 2026.