The Fiji Rugby Union had earlier announced that full details of the sponsorships will be announced today however it postponed the announcement of the new rugby sponsors to an undisclosed date with no reason given for the delay.
We contacted FRU board director responsible for marketing, Baljeet Singh on the reason for the postponement of the announcement of the sponsors and whether the sponsors for the Fiji rugby products have been confirmed.
Singh said they will finalize the sponsorship soon.
National 7s team sponsor, Digicel’s sponsorship contract expired at the end of last year.
It is now highly likely that the National 7s team will leave our shores for the US 7s on Sunday as a non sponsored team.
Fijivillage is currently trying to establish how the non sponsorship is affecting the player payments and bonus pay after tournaments.
We asked Baljeet Singh however his only response is that the sponsorship will be finalized soon.
As announced their participation will not be affected as the host unions will take care of the expenses.
FRU Chairman, Filimoni Waqabaca could not be contacted for a comment on when the sponsorship will be announced.
Meanwhile the International Rugby Board has suspended $3.3 million of direct funding to the Fiji Rugby Union until the FRU meets the IRB requirements.
IRB General Manager Oceania William Glenwright said they suspended their funding to FRU after they failed to agree to the implementation of key recommendations arising from a Major Union Review conducted in May last year.
IRB also expressed concerns that the financial position of FRU is unsustainable and could create instability and impact on key IRB-funded development and high performance programmes.
FRU said it wants to be financially viable and not rely on the IRB for financial assistance.
Story by: Vijay Narayan
