The Fiji Rugby Union Interim Chair Peter Mazey says that they will comment later this afternoon in regards to allegations made by former Fiji Water Flying Fijians captain Waisea Nayacalevu.
All members of the Fiji Water Flying Fijians squad for the Rugby World Cup in France have been paid $113,500 each, and the final payments went to the players on the 23rd of October, 2023.
This was confirmed by Rugby House after the completion of the audit by I. Naiveli & Co Chartered Accountants which was also provided to fijivillage News.
People can access this here.
Fiji Rugby Interim Chair Peter Mazey says overall, the delay in the processing of payments was largely attributed to regulatory procedures with the banks, and the Fiji Revenue and Customs Service, and provision of erroneous or incomplete bank details by the players.
Any delays in payments were between 3 working days to a week.
Mazey says after reviewing the responses from the players, they concur that the issues lay with the misinterpretation of how their payments were processed into their respective bank accounts.
Former Fiji Water Flying Fijians outside back, Semi Radradra has revealed that they had 3 players’ strikes against the Fiji Rugby Union at the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France which caused them to lose 3 games in the tournament just because of the delay in their pay.
Radradra revealed this during a live interview with Lesi Vanuavou.
Radradra says the first strike was before the game against Wales and the second strike was before the game against Portugal with the third one before the game against England.
He says the losses against Wales, Portugal and England were because of the players being mentally distracted with such issues.
He adds they had these strikes because some of the players were not paid for at least 3 weeks while some were not fully paid for weeks.
Former Flying Fijians captain Waisea Nayacalevu says the FRU is asking for evidence of his allegations against them but they themselves were breaching the contracts they have signed with the players after delaying their pay.
Nayacalevu says if the FRU had fulfilled the promises they made to the players, Fiji would have done wonders at the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France.
Nayacalevu says on the international level, players would be fully focused on the game ahead of them and not their pay if the FRU had stayed true to what they promised.
He adds it was better off if FRU did not make any promises that they could not fulfil.
Former Flying Fijians utility Lepani Botia says there should be a way that things need to be done in regards to paying the players in terms of what they have sacrificed for the team.
He says FRU cannot expect players to perform to the best of their ability when they are not paying the players well which affects the players’ mental preparation heading into a match.
Botia says players have their families that rely on them to provide for them from what they are earning as everything nowadays is all about the money.
He says when FRU promised them their payout, the players were all focused on giving their best performance to get awarded what they were promised and when the promise was not fulfilled, the players were questioning the captain along with some senior players as well as the manager and the former coach Simon Raiwalui.
Botia says they had to deal with young players coming to them asking them when will the FRU pay them the promised bonus.
He says he has been playing for Fiji for the past 10 years, and these alleged corrupt practices have always been there.
Botia adds they are speaking out for the betterment of the players’ welfare especially when these players leaving behind the roles they have to play at home, to go out and represent the country only to be treated inappropriately, especially with their pay.
He says they have raised these issues many times, especially with their pay, but nothing has been done.
Former captain, Waisea Nayacalevu along with former reps Lepani Botia and Semi Radradra have revealed that former coach Simon Raiwalui and other senior players in the squad to the 2023 Rugby World Cup had to fork out money from their own pockets to share with the local players after their game against Georgia.
Nayacalevu, Botia and Radradra highlighted that they had to use their own money as their pay was delayed.
The players say they had to buy the meals for the local players as well.
We have sent questions to FRU’s Interim Chair, Peter Mazey.
On issues that have been raised by Waisea Nayacalevu and other players regarding payments, Mazey says the Trustees have engaged an independent Accounting Auditor to review all payments.
Former Flying Fijians captain, Waisea Nayacalevu says he has decided to speak out about the way the Fiji rugby players have been treated by the Fiji Rugby Union in relation to delayed pay issues and promises not being kept because he is thinking of all the players that have been affected and also for the future of all Fijian rugby players.
While speaking in a facebook discussion with a Lesi Vanuavou, Nayacalevu and senior player, Semi Radradra shared how the coaches and senior players have had to use their own money because the credit card given by the FRU to the Manager on tour had no money.
The senior players have had to pay for the meals of the local players and the coaches even had to pay for the laundry.
Nayacalevu and Radradra also say the players from the 2019 World Cup were only paid 50 percent of what they were promised, and that is the reason why they pushed for the pay and bonuses to be paid before they played England in the 2023 Rugby World Cup quarter final.
This even resulted in Nayacalevu making it clear to the FRU for the promised money to be paid or the players would boycott the quarter final.
While responding to the Fiji Rugby Union statement that the players have been paid, Nayacalevu, Radradra and senior player, Lepani Botia have said today that they have not received the $105,000 payment per player from the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
Nayacalevu also says he had also asked to have zoom meetings with the FRU Interim Chair, Peter Mazey however Mazey did not attend any of the sessions.
He says they as players are putting their bodies on the line for Fiji, and the debts of the FRU is not their problem.
Nayacalevu and Botia say they know the sponsors and World Rugby provides funding to the FRU, and they are asking why this is not being utilised to make payments to the players and coaches on time.
We have been trying to get the FRU.
On issues that have been raised by Waisea Nayacalevu and other players regarding payments, Mazey says the Trustees have engaged an independent Accounting Auditor to review all payments.
The Fiji Rugby Football Union Trustees have engaged an independent Accounting Auditor to review all payments to all players including bonuses.
Fiji Rugby Interim Chair Peter Mazey highlighted this to fijivillage News in response to statements made by former Fiji Water Flying Fijians skipper Waisea Nayacalevu and other players raising concerns of late payments and unpaid bonuses.
Mazey says this is to ascertain if anybody is missed out and they will immediately ensure that it is corrected.
He says according to their records, it shows that everyone has been paid.
The Interim Chair says the Trustees rely on the information they have been given.
He says they did facilitate the final bonus payment by obtaining a overdraft facility so the players could get it immediately until the government was able to do it because they have processes and can’t make instant payments.
When asked on how they can guarantee this does not happen in the future, Mazey says that is why they are investigating it to see why, how long and how it has been happening.
Mazey says once they have those answers, they will ensure that the High Performance Unit has the right processes and procedures in place as well as their finance departments.
He says while the government was a main contributor to the Rugby World Cup last year with $2.5 million, the whole campaign cost just under $10 million.
Mazey says the Fiji Water sponsorship was from Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka speaking to the owners and they are very grateful for that sponsorship which has just been renewed.
He hopes that the players speaking out won’t cause any of the sponsors to withdraw.
When asked on comments made by Lepani Botia and Semi Radradra who were asked to pay their own airfares and are still awaiting reimbursement, Mazey says he doesn’t know anything about it and this will definitely be part of what they are looking at.
Mazey says when they came in as Trustees, one of the things that the players and the then Head Coach Simon Raiwalui asked for was if they could have contracts for the players.
He says in association with the Pacific Players Association they had put together a fixed term player contract by the Association and the FRU and each player signed it.
Former Fiji Water Flying Fijians skipper Waisea Nayacalevu along with former reps Lepani Botia and Semi Radradra have revealed that former coach Simon Raiwalui and other senior players in the squad to the 2023 Rugby World Cup had to fork out money from their own pockets to share with the local players after their game against Georgia.
During a live interview with a Lesi Vanuavou, Nayacalevu, Botia and Radradra highlighted that they had to use their own money as their pay was delayed.
The players say they had to buy the meals for the local players as well.
Nayacalevu says this has been an ongoing issue for years where the FRU promises players to pay them a certain amount of money or bonuses after tournaments but they fail to see their promises through.
He says this should not be happening at the international level.
Semi Radradra has also revealed that most of the players that went for the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Tokyo have not been fully paid to date.
Radradra says they were promised that they will be paid half of the salary before they left for Tokyo and will receive the remainder of their salary when they come back from Tokyo.
He says this is why they fought hard for the pay to be fully paid to the players before the 2023 RWC quarter final match against England to prevent the same incident that happened in 2019.
We are awaiting a response from Interim Chair of the Fiji Rugby Union, Peter Mazey.
The Fiji Rugby Union will have their Annual General Meeting on 9 November to select a new Board to take them forward.
Fiji Rugby Interim Chair Peter Mazey says that after their Special General Meeting in June it was decided that a new company will be formed to manage and operate the Fiji Rugby Union.
Mazey says there were delays in having that company formed because when their lawyers went to get the company registered the name, Fiji Rugby Union Limited was not available, so they had to find a name that is acceptable to the Companies Office.
Mazey says the name of the new company is Fiji Rakavi Football Union Limited.
He says the Unions have to elect and put into place a Nominations Committee which was just finalised last Friday.
Mazey says at their Board meeting they were able to announce to the Unions the names of the Nominations Committee which is made up of FNU’s Head of Law School, Ana Rokomokoti, Post Fiji CEO Isaac Mow, Fiji Commerce & Employers Federation CEO Kameli Batiweti and current Interim Board member Jenny Seeto.
On issues that have been raised by former Fiji Water Flying Fijians skipper Waisea Nayacalevu and other players regarding payments, Mazey says the Trustees have engaged an independent Accounting Auditor to review all payments.
Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka says former Fiji Water Flying Fijians captain Waisea Nayacalevu’s statements have brought to light deeper issues that need urgent attention.
Rabuka says he has been made aware of the ongoing administrative challenges within the Fiji Rugby Union, after Nayacalevu raised concerns about corruption and poor management in an interview with the Daily Mail UK.
He says when those things came to him, he knew there was some maladministration continuing at the FRU.
The Prime Minister says while it is the FRU’s responsibility to manage their own affairs, his priority has always been to support our Flying Fijians.
He says when the team threatened to boycott last year’s Rugby World Cup quarterfinal match, he told the then interim administrator Simione Valenitabua, to let the team train, and the government will send the money.
He says our national team deserves nothing less than our full backing.
The Prime Minister says at the last meeting, when the FRU finally decided that the government will have no role in the running of the FRU, he said, okay, it is their organization, they deal with it as they see fit.
He says the 26 member unions voted in favour of a new structural change during the Special General Meeting at the Novotel Hotel Convention Centre.
Rabuka says this new structural change includes unions will nominate and vote for who they want in each position.
He says there will no longer be a government or Prime Minister’s nominee, nor a World Rugby appointee; it will be solely Fiji Rugby, where the union members will vote.
The Fiji Rugby Football Union Trust Board says they are saddened by former Fiji Water Flying Fijians captain Waisea Nayacalevu’s comments, as each player in the Rugby World Cup Squad was paid $105,000 each.
The Trustees say they took responsibility of Fiji Rugby in May 2023, 4 months prior to the Rugby World Cup and at that time their biggest priority was in finding the funding to get the Flying Fijians into camp, to train, and then to play in the World Cup, and return to their clubs.
They say after negotiations, it was agreed that each Flying Fijian squad member (33 players) would receive a sign on fee of $30,000 and an allowance of $500 per day from 16 July to 15 October 2023, a period of 91 days.
With Government backing, the Trustees say bonuses were offered at that time of $30,000 for winning the quarter final, $40,000 for winning the semi final and $50,000 for winning the final.
They say the bonuses were therefore based on the team’s achievements.
The Trustees say in addition to that remuneration, Fiji Rugby and World Rugby paid for all expenses for the Flying Fijians for preparation for and participation in the 2023 Rugby World Cup – all travel to, from and during camp; international air travel; all accommodation and meals; all playing and training gear; and incidentals.
They say these had all been budgeted for, by Fiji Rugby, World Rugby and Government although there were some delays in the payments to a handful of overseas based players, due to confirming their overseas bank details.
The Trustees say regrettably, three days before the quarterfinal, the Team Manager arranged a Zoom meeting between the Captain, some team members and the Fiji Interim Rugby Administrator at that time.
They say in that meeting, the Captain and some players demanded payment of bonuses prior to the quarter final and they threatened Fiji Rugby that they wouldn’t play the quarterfinal match unless the bonuses were paid first.
The Trustees say they took this threat seriously and realized the pressure this put-on Fiji Rugby’s cash flows and had no option but to approach the Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka for Government assistance to pay the bonus, much earlier than planned.
They say an undertaking was given to the players by the Prime Minister’s Office that they would be paid the quarter final bonus they demanded, immediately after the quarters as Fiji Rugby could not and will never risk a boycott of any match by a Fiji Rugby team, let alone a quarter final of the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
The Trustees say the consequence of such a boycott would likely have seen Fiji players and Fiji Rugby being expelled from participating in World Rugby matches.
They say Waisea Nayacalevu as Captain and the senior players were aware of this but unfortunately still proceeded with their demands.
The Board says the bonus was not only promised but was paid.
They say the sign on fee of $30,000, and the $500 daily allowance have been paid.
They say in total, each player in the squad for the duration of the camp and RWC received around $105,000 for playing in the World Cup.
The Board says Nayacalevu has brought up issues and made serious accusations against the team at Rugby House.
They say their concern is the serious accusations of corruption at Fiji Rugby.
The FRU Board says Nayacalevu should have been asked to specify exactly what he means by this statement.
They ask does he know of any specific cases of corruption, and if so, to please lay out the evidence for all to examine.
The Trustees say Fiji Rugby’s focus is on supporting our teams in future competitions and have learnt from the past and are working hard to achieve continuous improvements in the management and performance of our teams.
In an extensive interview with the Daily Mail, Nayacalevu revealed that the Rugby World Cup quarter-final match against England last year almost didn't happen.
Nayacalevu says that the Fiji players were prepared to boycott the fixture over unpaid bonuses and alleged corruption at the Fiji Rugby Union.
His claims come just a month after Fiji was reinstated to the World Rugby Council after a prolonged exile. Nayacalevu skippered his country at the World Cup in France and led the play strike threats to the bigwigs.
He says they need to cut off this virus that has always been there.
The centre says they weren't going to play the match against England, they were going to walk out as the FRU had promised them things and they didn't get it as they were promised a bonus.
The Fiji Rugby Union Interim Chair Peter Mazey says that they will comment later this afternoon in regards to allegations made by former Fiji Water Flying Fijians captain Waisea Nayacalevu.
Nayacalevu revealed that the Rugby World Cup quarter-final match against England last year almost didn’t happen.
In an extensive interview with the Daily Mail, Nayacalevu confirmed that the Fiji players were prepared to boycott the fixture over unpaid bonuses and alleged corruption at the Fiji Rugby Union.
His claims come just a month after Fiji was reinstated to the World Rugby Council after a prolonged exile.
Nayacalevu skippered his country at the World Cup in France and led the play strike threats to the bigwigs.
He says they need to cut off this virus that has always been there.
The centre says they weren’t going to play the match against England, they were going to walk out as the FRU had promised them things and they didn’t get it as they were promised a bonus.
He says they were staying in Marseille and he organised a presentation, a Zoom call, to talk about what they had been promised.
Nayacalevu says they gave them a date and said, if they don’t pay by this day, nobody is going to play in the quarter-final.
He says it was not the first time that the union made empty promises to the players but he and several senior players of the squad including Semi Radradra, Levani Botia, Albert Tuisue and Eroni Mawi were not willing to let it slide this time.
The veteran midfielder added that the fight with the Fiji Rugby Union proved to be a distraction for the squad as they chased history by taking their nation to the semi-finals of the tournament for the first time in their history.
Nayacalevu says he has played for Fiji for more than 10 years and it’s the same thing over and over again.
He says it’s not the first time, boys getting half-paid, not getting paid for weeks.
The midfielder says Fiji has the potential to win the World Cup, that was their mindset last year but they were frustrated after the England match.
He says because they were building phases, but there were hands in every ruck, blocking the ball.
Nayacalevu says they are not playing with closed eyes.
Fiji claimed a famous victory over England at Twickenham before the Rugby World Cup but they were unable to back up that performance in France as they succumbed to a 30-24 defeat with George Ford slotting a drop goal and Owen Farrell adding a penalty in the final ten minutes of the match.
The 34-year-old believed that 2023 could have been his final year of international rugby which pushed him to fight even harder for himself and his team-mates.
He has since played for Fiji this year but hopes that future generations of Flying Fijians will continue to stand up against the alleged corruption.
Nayacalevu says he told the team when he is gone he hopes they will learn from this, when things happen in the future he hopes they have the balls to put it in their face.
[Source: planetrugby]
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