FRU made a $1.5 million loss on 7s programs for the season that ended in May this year – FRFTU

The 7s programs for both men and women organised by the Fiji Rugby Union have been running at a loss of about $1.5 million.

Fiji Rugby Football Union Trust board member Jenny Seeto revealed this today during a press conference at the FRU boardroom.

Seeto says one of the first things they did when they came into office is look into the budgeting area of things and asked for the financials on the 7s tournaments because it is one of the sports that has been successful globally and has brought a great reputation for the country.

She says when they were first given the 7s financials for the season that ended in May this year, it showed a small profit but as they dug deeper into it, they found out about the loss.

Seeto says sponsorships are something that they will be working on with their commercial teams and the management so that when they go out to look for money, they need to know what to ask the sponsors because the sponsors themselves will be transparent about where the money will be going to and that is important.

She says this is one of the reasons why they are in an overdraft because they just don’t have enough money to fund the various programs.

Fiji Rugby Chair Peter Mazey says this is a massive loss in the 7s programs and they are paying the National players their salaries and allowances, airfares, clothing and shoes and when they are asking for large allowances on top of that, they should understand that they already have had their salaries and had their other expenses paid for, even their laundry.

Board member, Sikeli Tuinamuana says the losses are historical and they have a huge $3 million debt sitting there.

He says the sponsors are giving money going forward and with expectations of having their programs fulfilled.

He adds this leaves the question of where is the money coming from to clear this debt.

Tuinamuana says there is a need to make sure these situations are balanced and also make sure the sponsors are satisfied by meeting their requirements because it is a contract.

He adds at the same time, they have to look for ways to pay down the debts and that is the challenge that they are facing at the moment.