Fiji bosses fired

The Fiji Rugby Union has sacked its national selectors in one of its first public responses to the failure of the Fijian team at the World Cup.

The Fiji Broadcasting Corporation reported on Friday that coach Sam Domoni was likely to be sacked along with Talemo Waqa, head of Fiji's High Performance Unit.

The union's board met in Suva on Thursday and approved seven recommendations of its World Cup review committee which likely include the dismissal of senior coaching staff and management.

Union chairman Colonel Mosese Tikoitoga said no public statement would be made on the extent of those dismissals until the individuals had been informed.

Tikoitoga told the FBC that as union chairman he accepted responsibility for the Fiji team's performance at the World Cup, where it won only one match against lowly ranked Namibia. But he said unlike past administrations, the current board would not resign but would concentrate on restoring the strength and credibility of the country's rugby program.

Almost all administrative positions will be advertised and current officeholders will likely have to reapply for their jobs. The position of chief executive has already been advertised and will be filled by January.

Tikoitoga said the board would fully account for the F$3-million (US$1.7-million) in government funds spent on the Fiji team's World Cup campaign. The board was currently awaiting a financial report from the Fiji team management.

"We haven't got our final financial report from the management on the government funds used, but we will certainly be going back to government with a full report on all the acquittals of the government funds used," Tikoitoga said.

"Having said that, we are fully aware that we are responsible to the taxpayers and we need to take some drastic measures to change things so that we can at least tell the government that the money they had given us was not totally thrown away."

AFP