Rugby league has been played in France since 1934. As with rugby union, rugby league was introduced by the English and the heartland of the game is in the south of France. During the Second World War, in association with the French Rugby Federation (FFR), the sport was banned by the Vichy government, an act from which the code has struggled to recover. There has been a recent resurgence of the sport following the admission of Catalans Dragons to the Super League, Toulouse Olympique to the RFL Championship and to the Queensland Cup. In 2012, there were approximately 30,000 active participants.