THE Fijian Government is working hard to clamp down on unscrupulous agents who continue to hire Fijian rugby players for overseas contracts on cheap deals.
Youth and Sports Minister Laisenia Tuitubou said his ministry had been working with the Labour Ministry and the Immigration Department to stop the “talent draining” of future Fijian stars.
“We have been working together from last year on this,” Tuitubou said.
“The biggest problem lies with local agents.”
Tuitubou said they had stopped some overseas scouts who came in on visitor’s visa, but try to do businesses and some had connections locally and had been involved in cheap deals for Fijian rugby players.
“A good example is the 400 metre sprinter Batinisavu Uluiyata whose father came back to the Fiji Rugby Union and the ministry to lodge a complaint because his son didn’t get what was promised to him by the local agent,” Tuitubou said.
He said the FRU would now need to certify contractors before they could offer a player a deal. His comments came after a report on BBC by former Fiji 7s coach Ben Ryan, who masterminded our Olympic Games gold medal win, highlighted that Fiji, Samoa and Tonga produce some enormous natural rugby talents, but the Pacific Islands were being drained of even teenage promising stars by “crooked” agents.
“I went to Toulon in pre-season and they knew about 15-year-olds that were playing in Fiji school competitions,” Ryan told BBC.
“They’ll go to the villages; they’ll give some money or incentives to their family to get them to go overseas then they’ll take them to their French, Australian or New Zealand clubs or schools or academies. Some guys will make it, some guys won’t. It’s an educated gamble that more often than not pays off.
“There are dodgy agents and people on the islands cutting deals and taking backhanders,” said Ryan, claiming players are often contacted via Facebook.
“There are some terrible agents, mainly the ones who have been kicked out of Australia and New Zealand. They end up trying to get islanders across, saying how they helped them. It’s the opposite. I’ve had players left high and dry. Where there is un-regulation, you’re going to get cowboys out there that don’t care and are just looking to make a quick buck.”
Former Fiji 7s coach Etuate Waqa said this had been a continuing problem and the onus was also on parents to work with the FRU to check on those clubs that were after their children.
