After a week of negative headlines, the former Manu Samoa lock Daniel Leo says the upcoming World Rugby elections are a chance for the sport to make positive change.
Fiji Rugby's Chairman Francis Kean's nomination for the World Rugby Executive Committee was hastily withdrawn on Tuesday following allegations of homophobia in the Sunday Times and a damning open letter to voting members from Pacific Rugby Players Welfare CEO Leo detailing Kean's political and legal history in Fiji.
Fiji Rugby Union Chair Francis Kean, World Rugby Chair Bill Beaumont and Samoa Rugby Union Chair and PM, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi Photo: World Rugby
The former Navy Commander Kean, who was convicted of manslaughter in 2007, also stood down from the World Rugby Council, with Fiji's seat taken by CEO John O'Connor.
Dan Leo said it hasn't been a great few days for rugby and "it beggars belief that his candidacy got as far as it did".
"The big question is here how much did World Rugby know? I find it hard to believe that this wasn't passed up the chain and if it was passed up the chain then it's been blatantly ignored and for me that's not good enough.
Why didn't World Rugby do anything about it?," he said.
Pacific Rugby Players Welfare CEO, Dan Leo Photo: Facebook
The backtrack came after the Sunday Times reported it had heard a recording of Kean while he was in charge of the Fiji prison service, in which the paper alleged homophobic language was used.
Dan Leo was among a group of Samoan players who threatened to boycott a test against England in 2014 over concerns about the governance and management of the Samoa Rugby Union.
The 42-test veteran said he's had numerous conversations with World Rugby over the past five years around governance, corruption and the involvement of politicians in Pacific Island rugby.
"And the one thing they keep coming back to me [saying is]: 'these are sovereign union with the power to remove people - we can only support them in their recommendations'.
Well, for me, that's not good enough and in my letter [to voting members of the World Rugby Council] I made a reference to football.
As rugby players and fans and anyone associated with the sport we like to point the finger and say at least we're better than them, we're better than those football hooligans and that sort of stuff but actually we're not."
Dan Leo said World Rugby has been sending so-called experts on governance to the Pacific Islands for years but the governing body has shown "a real lack of due diligence" in the nomination process.
With professional rugby at a stand-still because of Covid-19 he said rugby power-brokers have a golden opportunity to look at how the sport is being governed and by whom.
"This is a good chance given that there's no pressure...competitions have stopped and actually I'm glad that competitions have stopped because in the past when these elections have been in the running they usually coincide with the [English] Premiership final and the Top 14 semi finals [in France] they get lost in the results, and actually this has been a great opportunity for the world to stop and look and say this is actually a really, really important matter."
Agustin Pichot is challenging Sir Bill Beaumont for the World Rugby Chairmanship. Photo: INPHO/Photosport
World Rugby has been approached for comment on their vetting process for elected office.