Fijian player, rugby union and the prime minister: Who has the last laugh?

Opinion - There are different takes on Waisea Nayacalevu's outbursts against the Fiji Rugby Union (FRU) this week.

The former Flying Fijians captain, for one, is now definitely a no-no with the FRU and may have played his last game in the Fiji colours against the All Blacks.

That remains to be seen, though.

Some have questioned the wisdom in the story being released this week, ahead of the Fijians Pacific Nations Cup final against Japan in Tokyo.

Then there are others who believe the now Sale-based player in England had raised some valuable points in his tell-all interview with Daily Mail.

But one thing is for certain: the situation that the FRU finds itself in looks set to continue for some time.

While the FRU Interim Trustees Board appear to have tried their best to re-structure and set a new system in place, the old habits might take some time to fully die out.

That habit remains to be the late payment or non-payment of allowances and dues to the players.

It was happening 15 years ago, happened in 2023 and was also happening this week.

It could be a matter for debate if Nayacalevu might have been off the mark with his use of the word "corruption".

But that is him using the Fijian term - lawaki ca - which loosely translates to the English term "corruption".

FRU Interim chairman Peter Mazey took offence to that and has called on evidence of such practises at Valekau - the long-time headquarters of Fiji Rugby.

However, Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka, a former Flying Fijian himself, seems to think Nayacalevu's outburst seems to have opened the old can of worms again.

Now we learned during this week, as the FRU scrambled to find their response to Nayacalevu's comments, that the Fijian union could not handle the threat made by the players in Marseille, over boycotting the Rugby World Cup quarterfinal clash against England.

As they weighed up what boycotting the game would mean to Fiji Rugby, the FRU decided they needed the intervention of a higher authority.

Alas! They turned to the very body they had decided not to allow to interfere with the decisions at Rugby House - Fiji government and Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka.

So, it was the PM who consolidated the financial support and got the players sorted out.

"When those things came to me, I knew there was some maladministration continuing in Fiji Rugby Union," he said via a Facebook post on Wednesday.

"And at the last meeting, when they (FRU) finally decided that the government will have no role in the running of the FRU, I said, okay, it is their organisation, they deal with it as they see fit.

"While it is FRU's responsibility to manage their own affairs, my priority has always been to support our Flying Fijians.

"When the team threatened to boycott last year's World Cup quarterfinal match, I told the then interim administrator Simione Valenitabua, 'Let the team train, and the government will send the money'.

"Our national team deserves nothing less than our full backing."

That news, relayed to Nayacalevu and the players, diffused what could have been major disaster for Fiji Rugby.

Mixed reactions to the issue

Nayacalevu's tell-all interview and the FRU's response received mixed reactions from Fijians at home and around the globe.

Apia-based Fijian media and communication adviser Wame Valentine, a keen follower of the Flying Fijians, called it "shocking, no but incredibly disappointing".

He said FRU has had this reputation for a while "and it's shocking that our rugby ambassadors should have to deal with this".

"Unfortunately, many Fijians and I have nothing much to be proud of Fiji for other than our performance in rugby but it appears we can't even get a break with rugby either.

"I understand that this is an accusation but what is FRU planning to do about their management and governance concerns?

"They stated that a new board would be appointed in August 2024. We're halfway through September and I can't find any information of the new board anywhere online.

"The Fijian people and most importantly the Fijian rugby players and their loved ones deserve better than this. We, as a nation, cannot expect our players to give their best performance on the rugby pitch when they have to deal with something like this off field.

"Like any job, something like this would affect their performance. We as a country should stand up and demand that this ends NOW. For too long this has been going on, and we deserve better."

Valentine has even suggested a four-point precise plan, that perhaps the FRU management should consider.

• Plan on strengthening governance and transparency: Conduct an annual independent audit on their finances and their staff performance and disclose these publicly; ensure that their board has representation from players and not just financial experts and government officials; draft an Anti-Corruption Policy showing procedures on reporting, investigating, and addressing any allegations of corruption or mismanagement.
• Plan on player welfare management: have attractive contracts including medical insurance; mental and physical health support by providing access to sports psychologists, nutritionists, etc. Perhaps a welfare committee that engages with players can help address their grievances early on.
• Diversify sponsorships by reaching out to international brands whose message aligns with the Fiji rugby. They need to look beyond the Fijian companies.
• Capacity building of staff to include training for FRU's management team on financial management, player engagement and welfare, and governance workshops.

'Bureaucracy being bureaucratic'

Former chief executive Charlie Charters said the delays within the FRU payment systems are reliant on how fast they can get funds out from funders, like the government.

He agrees corruption might be a tough word to use, when in fact what people mean is maladministration

"I can remember when I was working - as an example - to get money from the Ministry of Youth and Sports because of all the acquittals that we had to get. Then the whole file went over to Ministry Finance and that took an age.

"If you were looking from the outside, I suppose you could think that was maladministration on our part, but it was actually bureaucracy being bureaucratic, but it wouldn't rise to being corrupt."

What then must be required is for the FRU to be upfront and transparent - letting players and officials know why there is a delay and not leave them hanging, which leads to such claims of corruption, coming out.

'Kick in the gut'

Well-known Fijian singer and ardent Flying Fijians fan Bigwilz Waqa said Nayacalevu and the players who sided with him were wrong to hold the FRFU "at gunpoint" before the Rugby World Cup Quarters on bonus payments.

The F$105,000 for each player over three months is probably the combined four years wages of 60 percent of families in Fiji.

He said the Interim Board had less than six months to find money to fund the Flying Fijians when they took office in March 2023 was hard work and commendable.

"We were in a mess," he said. "In the mess we were in, for the new admin to hook up with Fiji Water and try their best to steer the ship and pay the boys would've been one amazing job done in a very short time."

He said big number eight Peceli Yato, who left the team during their initial camps in Fiji, because of reported differences over allowances was honourable.

He added the threat by players to boycott their quarterfinal game would have taken away the chance of another bright young Fijian rising star from shining and leaves a sour taste on those who paid their way to back the boys across France.

"Hundreds of us went to France and paid thousands of hard-earned money to cheer for the boys. And we never regretted it because we thought they played their hearts out for Fiji.

"Now to hear they went into that game with that attitude is a kick in the gut," Waqa added.

Players had the last laugh?

Now, with the FRU responding to the issues raised, one major wrong has been revealed.

We can't be certain the FRU and government realise it - maybe the seriousness of the boycott threat was too much to handle at the time.

The FRU revealed that after negotiations, each Flying Fijian squad member of 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, which was for 91 days.

Government then waged in and offered $30,000 for winning the quarter-final, $40,000 for winning the semi-final and $50,000 for winning the final. In total each player received FJ$105,000 for the world cup campaign.

But wait - the government bonus was if they won the quarterfinal. However, that was also paid out, as Mazey confirmed.

They lost to England and were kicked out of the World Cup in Marseille.

Hang on - so who made that decision to pay that out also?