AirAsia will kick off the inaugural Malaysia Rugby League on 4 Feb as the main sponsor in a partnership with the Malaysian Rugby Union (MRU). The collaboration marks the airline's first foray into the world of rugby in an effort to further drive and develop rugby as a professional sport in Malaysia.

Organised by MRU, the Malaysia Rugby League will replace the previous Malaysia Rugby Super League (MRSL) as well as the National Inter Club Championship (NICC) and will see 39 top rugby clubs competing for the prestigious title. Through the new Malaysia Rugby League, MRU aims to develop a highly professional and competitive platform to produce high performance and world class players that will take the national 15s team to a higher Asia and World ranking.

AirAsia is proud to be a part of the initiative in line with its direction to grow sports locally and nurture young talents for the year ahead. Working with MRU, AirAsia will also support the outreach to grassroots communities across Malaysia starting from primary school levels by educating on the knowledge and sportsmanship of rugby.

Tan Sri Tony Fernandes, AirAsia Group CEO said, "AirAsia has never been involved in rugby before but what really motivated me was MRU's commitment in young talents and the grassroots communities. Rugby is a sport that has all the elements to break down barriers and I've witnessed the passion of these aspiring athletes during games. We love making dreams come true and we are thrilled to be a long-term supporter of this great sport with MRU."

Dato' Shahrul Zaman bin Yahya, President for Malaysia Rugby Union shared, "It is an honour to have AirAsia onboard as we believe this long-term partnership will help spur the growth of rugby in the country. Apart from the Malaysia Rugby League, we are especially excited with AirAsia's interest in our National Rugby Development Programme (NRDP) and Get Into Rugby (GIR) programme as we promote the sport so that everyone can play rugby. We look forward to working with AirAsia in the future to make the professional rugby vision a reality."

The Malaysia Rugby League will kick off this Saturday at various locations across the country.