North America’s chances of hosting the 2025 Rugby League World Cup have hit an almighty snag with the RLIF putting the event back out to tender after it was revealed the promotor of the event was in financial strife.

Fairfax reported on Wednesday that the event could be sent back to Australia but there is still the possibility of the tournament being played in the United States and Canada with new financial support.

“At the last board meeting last month, we made a decision to re-tender the 2025 World Cup,” CEO of the RLIF Nigel Wood said.

“That doesn’t indicate in stone we’re not in the United States, but we weren’t in a position to go forward under the existing proposition that had been made.

“We will be re-tendering that during the course of 2019.

“It could go anywhere, we’re not ruling anything in or out at this stage. We’ll see what the market tells us.”

In more promising news, the RLIF recently released a study that said almost 40% of players who participated in the latest international fixtures around the world weren’t playing in the NRL or Super League.