Waisea Nayacalevu, the Flying Fijians centre, has made explosive claims about the internal workings of the Fiji Rugby Union (FRU), including the team nearly boycotting last year’s Rugby World Cup quarterfinal match against England because they were not paid what the union “promised” them.In a candid interview with the Daily Mail’s rugby correspondent Nick Simon, Nayacalevu confirmed what many Fijians have long believed about financial management and player welfare at Rugby House in Suva.
The 34-year-old, who has over 40 caps in the white jersey, told the Daily Mail that corruption was widespread inside FRU, comparing it to a “virus” that needed to be “cut off” for things to improve.
According to the Daily Mail, Nayacalevu stated, “We’ve never said this in public, but it’s time for it to go out.” “We need to cut off this virus that has always existed. “There’s corruption in the Fiji rugby house.
We were not going to play against England; we were going to walk out. They promised us things, but we didn’t get them. We were promised a bonus.
“We were vacationing in Marseille, and I organized everything, including a presentation and a Zoom conference, to discuss what they had promised us. We set them a date and said, ‘If you don’t pay by this day, nobody is going to play this quarter-final’.”
According to the article, senior players included Semi Radradra, Levani Botia, Albert Tuisue, and Eroni Mawi. Nayacalevu, who has been playing for Fiji for the past decade, stated that this was not the first time they had met the same problem, and they only consented to stay and play against England after receiving their wages.
“I’ve played for Fiji for more than 10 years and it’s the same thing over and over again,” said the athlete. “It’s not the first time boys have been underpaid or gone without pay for weeks.” We were paid on the Thursday preceding the England match. It was close. “It diverted our attention.”
The strong centre believes the Flying Fijians can win the World Cup, but everything must be done professionally for the squad. “If we didn’t have corruption, if we had professional people in charge, then Fiji would be better,” he told me. “It’s not fair, but you have to go in there and fix it.”
The athlete, who began his rugby career with the Uprising Resort sevens rugby squad in Deuba and grew to prominence with the Fijian sevens side, claimed the commotion hampered their focus against England, which they finally lost.
And he has urged players to stand up and speak out when things are not going their way.
“Fiji has the potential to win the World Cup, that was our mindset last year,” according to him. “We were frustrated after the England game because we were building phases, but there were hands in every ruck, blocking the ball.”
We are not playing with closed eyes. “This is likely my final year with Fiji, and 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 courage to confront them.”
Nayacalevu is one of several senior players that have missed the current Flying Fijians schedule due to club commitments.
He led Fiji against the All Blacks in San Diego in July before returning to London to begin the new English rugby season. He has recently relocated to Sale with his family after spending the previous ten years in Paris.
RNZ Pacific has contacted Peter Mazey, the FRU Interim Board chairman, and Rovereto Nayaclevu, chief executive officer, for a response to Nayacalevu’s revelations and claims.
RNZ Pacific reported a similar situation in 2023, when the Fijiana women’s rugby team expressed concern about late allowance payments.
Before compensating the players, the FRU acknowledged the problem. At the same time, the Fijiana Drua rugby team had to rely on Fijians in Australia to support them throughout a number of Super W rugby games.
The FRU confessed that they were having some “cash flow” issues. The concerns were addressed by the Interim FRU Board, which was appointed by the Fijian government and World Rugby last year to assess and modernize the system.
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