The Fiji Rugby Union confirmed that bonuses were withheld and paid later to some Fijiana XV squad members to the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup in England.
In October, Times Sport was made aware that some of the players had still not received their promised bonuses from the world cup.
FRU chief executive Koli Sewabu, who was acting CEO then, said in an email, that “there were internal matters we had to deal with”.
The team was promised a $1000 bonus if they managed to win a game and they did in their last pool match against Wales 28-25.
However, certain incidents happened that prompted the FRU to withhold that promised bonus to some players while they conduct investigations.
“We completed that investigation. The reason we were holding on to the pay was to get confirmation from the hotel in England where some of the issues happened,” he said in an interview with this newspaper.
While he did not reveal what the issues were, it’s understood that some of the players broke the team’s no alcohol policy.
“I can’t comment on that,” Sewabu said when asked if the players were drunk.
“There were some issues in the rooms, there’s several things that happened, some people, outsiders, that came into the hotel as well so that sort of contributed to it.
“It wasn’t major, but we had to make sure we had all the facts and made sure that we dealt with it before we released the bonus to the girls which we did.”
