About $3.5 million was paid out to the Flying Fijians 33-member squad for last year’s World Cup in France.

Fiji Rugby Union (FRU) released the figure yesterday in reply to former national captain Waisea Nayacalevu’s allegations against the Rugby House.

Nayacalevu told Daily Mail on Monday that the players were prepared to boycott their World Cup quarter-final match against England last year over unpaid bonuses and corruption in the Fijian Rugby Union.

“We weren’t going to play. We need to cut off this virus that has always been there,” Nayacalevu told Daily Mail.

“We weren’t going to play the match against England; we were going to walk out. They promised us things and we didn’t get it. We were promised a bonus,” he said.

Zoom call

“We were staying in Marseille, and I organised a presentation, a Zoom call to talk about what they had promised us. We gave them a date and said, ‘If you don’t pay by this day, nobody is going to play this quarter-final’.”

Nayacalevu said it was not the first time FRU made empty promises to players; he and several senior players including Semi Radradra, Levani Botia, Albert Tuisue and Eroni Mawi were not willing to let it slide.

“I’ve played for Fiji for more than 10 years and it’s the same thing over and over again,” he said.

“It’s not the first time … boys getting half- paid, boys not getting paid for weeks. We were paid on the Thursday before the England match. It was close. It distracted our focus.”

Nayacalevu said he was hopeful future generations of Flying Fijians will continue to stand up against the corruption.

“I told the team, ‘Boys, when I’m gone from here, I hope you guys learn from this … when things happen in the future, I hope you have the balls to put it in their face’,” he added.

“If we didn’t have corruption, if we had professional people in charge, then Fiji would be better. It’s not fair, but you have to go in there and fix it.”

FRU’s response

In the statement FRU clarified that each Flying Fijian squad member (33 players) received a sign on fee of $30,000 and an allowance of $500 per day from July 16 to October 15, 2023 (91 days).

“Government offered bonuses of $30,000 for a quarter-final win, $40,000 semi-final win and $50,000 for winning the final,” the statement said.

“Bonuses were based on the team’s performance.”

The team’s expenses for their World Cup preparation and participation were all budgeted and fully funded by Fiji Rugby and World Rugby.

“Expenses include all travel, accommodation, meals, playing and training gear and the players were insured as well. There was some delay in the payments to a handful of overseas based players due to confirming their overseas bank details.

“Regrettably, three days before the quarter-final, the team manager arranged a Zoom meeting between the captain (Nayacalevu), some team members and the Fiji Interim Rugby Administrator (Simione Valenitabua).

In the 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 quarter-final match unless the bonuses were paid first.

“We took this threat seriously and realised the pressure would put-on FRU’s cash flows. We had no option but to approach the Prime Minister for Government assistance to pay the bonus much earlier than planned.

”An undertaking was given to the players by the Office of the Prime Minister that they would be paid the quarter-final bonus they demanded, immediately after the quarters.

Bonus paid

According to FRU, they could not risk an event of a boycott of a Fiji rugby team and in the case of a World Cup quarter-final. A boycott from the players would result in the expulsion of the Fiji players and FRU from participating in World rugby matches.

“Waisea as captain and the senior players were aware of this but unfortunately still proceeded with their demands.

“The bonus was not only promised but was paid. The sign on fee of $30,000 has been paid. The $500 daily allowance has been paid.

“In total, each player in the squad for the duration of the camp and RWC received around $105,000.”

The statement added that the Trustees were saddened but concerned about Nayacalevu’s serious allegations against the Rugby House.

“Our concern is the serious accusations of corruption at Fiji Rugby.

He should have been asked to specify exactly what he means. Does he know exactly of any specific cases of corruption. If so, please lay out the evidence for all to examine.”

Feedback: ioane.asioli@fijisun.com.fj