Businessman Mark Haynes Daniell: positive int’l coverage of Georgia’s rugby victory over Italy showing economic effect

Businessman, author and TV analyst Mark Haynes Daniell said the international coverage of the Georgian national rugby team’s historic win over Italy this month was generating positive economic effect for the country, in an interview published by Georgian Rugby on Wednesday.

Daniell attended the match on July 10 in Georgia’s Black Sea city of Batumi, with the game marking the first win for Georgia over a Tier 1 team, as the Lelos defeated their counterparts with a score of 28:19.

The Georgian Rugby Union has published an interview with Daniell, who talked about the economic effect that Georgian rugby could bring to the country.

Deniell said  the positive international coverage of the victory over Italy already had an economic effect, noting interest in Georgia had increased and more people had a wish of visiting Georgia’s coastal city.

The British press, for example, called Georgia a worthy candidate to join the six Nations, which sparked intrigue in the rugby world about a small country with great sporting potential,” Daniell told Rugby.ge.

Photo: Georgian Rugby Union

Daniell also focused on the training infrastructure in Georgia, calling it “truly world-class”, which is attractive for foreign teams to conduct away training sessions. He said the investment made in the infrastructure had “already put Georgia on the world rugby map,” and as a result, Georgian rugby would receive income not only from the sale of tickets, but also from the rental of the infrastructure, the sale of air tickets and hotel reservations.

In an interview Daniell also talked about rugby as an object of interest of royal families and the perspective of Georgia in this direction.

It is a well-known fact that there is a great interest and direct involvement of the royal families in rugby, which increases the interest in this sport even more. Rugby is an integral part of the universities and colleges of Oxford, Cambridge, Eton, where the aristocracy is educated and the love of this sport is passed down from generation to generation. Famous faces of the aristocracy not only attend rugby matches, but also participate in this sport, which increases the charm of rugby and adds a kind of glamour to it. I think about the prospect of the development of this line in Georgia as well,” Daniell said.

At the end of the interview, Daniell said he had already received Georgian citizenship and was going to invest in the country.