THE Fiji Sports Council and the Home Finance Company (HFC) Bank of Fiji yesterday signed into effect a 10-year extension of the latter’s naming rights on the HFC Bank Stadium in Suva.
The extension sees HFC Bank sponsor $700,000 per annum for the next 10 years, subject to a review period after five years.
The naming rights was first acquired by the bank in 2022, came into effect on July 1 that year and was in their possession for three years.
Present at the signing of the renewal were HFC Bank Fiji’s chief executive Rakesh Ram and Fiji Sports Council’s CEO Gilbert Vakalalabure.
Ram remarked their extension of their claim on the naming rights is a validation of the bank’s commitment towards elevating Fiji’s sporting community.
“We all know how passionate Fijians are in sports and as a local bank, it is our responsibility to ensure that it is maintained and the Fijian people continue to enjoy sports at the HFC Bank Stadium,” Ram shared.
He added the 10-year extension was a depiction of the bank’s trust in the Fiji Sports Council and the confidence it had in Fijian sporting pursuits at all levels.
For Vakalalabure, he acknowledged the support extended by the bank as a commendable one and one he said other sporting organisations would regard highly.
“I think that what the HFC Bank has done today (yesterday) is something that all the sports organisations around the country should be happy of,” Vakalalabure told reporters.
“It softens the idea of trying to move sports professionally and also nationally and also trying to drive in sports ahead.”
The extension has come at an opportune time for the Fiji Sports Council, which had been the subject of media and public scrutiny recently due to double bookings of the national stadium and unfavourable ground conditions for international matches.
