内容摘要：This has not been a major point of controversy, possibly because it is

This has not been a major point of controversy, possibly because it is

Next weekend will see the sport's showcase Challenge Cup Final at Wembley Stadium.And speaking on behalf of the MPs' rugby league group, Mr Baines said the lack of such an honour for rugby league was an unfairness to "some of Britain's greatest sporting heroes".

That included "legends of the game who overcame racial and class prejudice such as Billy Boston and Clive Sullivan, to modern heroes on and off the pitch like Kevin Sinfield," said Mr Baines.has raised more than £10m running for causes related to motor neurone disease, in memory of his late teammate Rob Burrow.was a celebrated Welsh-born rugby league player from the 1950s and 1960s, who is now aged 90. A petition was launched earlier this year to award him a knighthood.

"We do believe rugby league has historically been poorly treated in terms of recognition in various ways, including honours lists," said a spokesman for the Rugby Football League.There have been honours, such as CBEs and OBEs, but no knighthoods.

at the ground in Leeds where they used to play.

revealed that a disproportionately low number of top honours, such as knighthoods and damehoods, were going to people from the north of England and working class backgrounds - which overlaps with the rugby league heartlands.The Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, added his voice, telling BBC News the lack of rugby league knighthoods "cannot be right" when other sports, including rugby union, have had such honours "quite regularly".

The leader of a cross-party group of MPs who support rugby league has suggested the "scandal" of the lack of top honours for stars of the sport was linked to snobbery and class prejudice."This, I suspect, is because they come from working class backgrounds, didn't go to the right schools, and didn't mix in the right social circles," said David Baines, chair of the all-party Parliamentary rugby league group.

"Well enough is enough. It's 2025, and myself and other MPs are clear it's time for things to change."Sir Lindsay Hoyle, who is a former president of the Rugby Football League, said: "Rugby league has a long and proud history and is littered with examples of players who have excelled in the sport and inspired future generations to play the game."