South Africa's cabinet backs bid to host 2023 rugby World Cup

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - South Africa's cabinet said on Thursday it backed a bid by the country's rugby union to host the Rugby World Cup in 2023, having hosted the tournament once in 1995.

The South African government in May said it had lifted a ban on the country's rugby union hosting international events after it made progress improving racial diversity in the sport, paving the way for a 2023 Rugby World Cup bid.

The government imposed the ban last year having pushed for the country's main sports to create more opportunities for black players and administrators more than two-decades after the end of white-minority rule under the Apartheid system.

(Reporting by Wendell Roelf; Writing by Mfuneko Toyana; Editing by James Macharia)