IRB monitoring Fijian farce

The International Rugby Board (IRB) is staying on the sidelines for now, but still keeping a close watch on the ongoing stand-off between the Fijian Rugby Union and the country’s military government.

Amidst reports that the entire Board of the FRU has followed Chairman Bill Gavoka and stepped down in the face of mounting government pressure, the IRB told rugby365.com that they were not planning to step into the fray at this stage.

Fiji’s military appointed Sport Minister Filipe Bole told the state-controlled radio that the FRU would receive F$3-million (US$1.6-million) to play in the World Cup in New Zealand later this year, if the entire Board heeded government demands and stepped down in the face of an escalating row around a lottery run by the union to raise money for the World Cup.

Earlier this week Bole demanded that the Union’s Board and Executive Members resign after an investigation by the Fiji Commerce Commission alleged there were irregularities in a lottery to fund Fiji’s participation at this year’s World Cup.

The commission alleged the union had illegally discounted tickets when sales stalled. That only 47,591 of 100,000 tickets were accounted for and with only F$104,985.26 in the union’s lottery account when there should have been F$350,005 based on sales.

The investigation also claimed lottery funds had been used to pay for union officials to attend Sevens tournaments in Hong Kong and Britain.

The commission’s findings were publicly released, and Bole said the government would not free the F$3-million (US$1.6-million) in World Cup funding to the union until a new administration was in place.

IRB bye-laws do make provision for the international body to step in and even ban, from competitions such as the World Cup, national teams where a government has interfered in the running of an IRB Member Union.

However, for now the IRB is staying out of the domestic squabble, although they are keeping a close eye on developments.

“Until appropriate evidence is presented the IRB believes the specific issue raised by the government relating to the FRU lottery is entirely a matter between the Commerce Commission and the Fiji Rugby Union and does not require IRB intervention,” an IRB spokesperson told rugby365.com on Thursday.

“However, should any evidence of maladministration be brought to the attention of the IRB then it will be investigated.

“The IRB is also keen to highlight that despite media speculation, government or third party body intervention in the management or governance of a union may constitute a breach of IRB bye-laws which enshrines the autonomy of member unions.

“As long as a union is working within its constitution, IRB bye-laws and national law there should be no government intervention justifiable and the IRB is satisfied that the FRU is currently operating within its governing documents.”

The IRB added that they remained committed to supporting the Fiji Rugby Union in developing all aspects of the game in the country.

“We are satisfied that our own investment in the FRU is adequately managed and meets the IRB’s thorough reporting and auditing standards and is managed in accordance with the FRU constitution.”

The IRB also pointed out that between 2009 and 2012 over F$7.6-million will have been invested by the IRB in high performance programmes and development grants for the Fiji Rugby Union aimed at increasing playing standards and competitiveness at the World Cup.

This is in addition to F$11-million invested during the same period for Pacific Island High Performance Tournaments such as the IRB Pacific Cup and IRB Pacific Nations Cup.

“The IRB is delighted to hear that the Fiji government has publicly pledged F$3-million funding to the Fiji Rugby Union for its World Cup 2011 campaign and looks forward to working with the Fiji Rugby Union in preparation for rugby’s showcase tournament hosted in New Zealand,” the IRB said.

Earlier this week Bill Gavoka resigned as Board Chairman and was replaced, as interim Chairman, by Rafaele Kasibulu.

Kasibulu has since met with the government and the rest of the Board has, according to Fijian media reports, now also stepped down.

Gavoka had earlier said Board members could not resign or be replaced until the union’s annual meeting in April.

By Jan de Koning