The government’s budgetary allocation for sports scholarships will empower administrators within sporting organisations, enabling them to acquire the necessary skills to operate their entities as legitimate businesses, says Fijian Drua Commercial General Manager Shane Hussein.
Hussein was a panelist at the Nadi Chamber of Commerce and Industry Post budget conference on Saturday
The Youth and Sports Ministry was allocated $23.4 million in the 2025-2026 National budget, and of this amount $185,870 was set aside for Sports Scholarships.
Hussein said the Fijian Drua have, first and foremost, a business.
“As I look down the list, something caught my eye in the sports allocations, which is about $186,000 worth of scholarships for Sports Studies and DPM, I can tell you that that as humble as the figure may sound, compared to other big numbers in the budget, there is a very substantial investment by the government,” he said.
Hussein said the allocation was timely following the Fiji National Sports Conference in Suva recently
“They invited me to the Fiji Sports Commission. Please come and explain and help the national sports bodies about earning revenue and doing their own commercials and standing on their own two feet.”
Hussein said a recurring theme throughout the conference was the inclusion of concerns raised in a budgetary submission to the government also seeking assistance.
“The session before mine was a gentleman, a young gentleman from the Ministry of Finance, who stood up and said, the government might reduce allocations, because I think we spend too much.
“There’s other competing priorities, like health and education, which is a bit of a root chop to our sporting bodies. So that was very timely, because my message to them was, if sports organisations, before you ask for help, learn to stand on your own two feet.
Hussein called for sporting organisations to generate their own revenues and pay for our own expenses rather than being excessively reliant on the government for funding.
“Too many times, in Fiji, sports organisations are led by former athletes who are great at, playing the match, playing a game, playing the sport, may not know how to read a cash flow. May not know how to make investments for their own sport into the future.
“So, investments like scholarships for students to understand sports management, will help eventually reduce the reliance that sports have on government funding.”
