The Fiji National Rugby League will not incur major losses with the postponement of the 2021 Rugby League World Cup to next year.
The 2021 RLWC was postponed after powerhouse nations Australia and New Zealand pulled out of the event scheduled from October 23 to November 27, citing the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last Monday, Fiji Bati head coach Joe Rabele announced a revised 41-member training squad with players to confirm their availability for the pinnacle of the sport but this has now been shelved because of the postponement.
FNRL acting chief executive officer Don Natabe said they were in the process of making the final arrangements for the Fiji Bati’s preparations.
Natabe said they had incurred minimal expenses as they withheld majority of the funds citing clarity on the status of the tournament after New Zealand and Australia’s stance.
“We processed some visas and that is the only expenses we have incurred,” he said.
“We were getting ready to pay for the flights of the administrative, coaching and management staff members to go to Australia where our training basewould have been ahead of the RLWC but we withheld those payments because of the uncertainty in regards to the tournament.”
Natabe said the idea was to send the administration team with the coaches and managers to Australia next month ahead of the Fiji Bati camp.
“The players were to march into camp on October 5 in Australia before they flew off to the United Kingdom,” he said.
The new dates for the postponed event is yet to be announced.
Fiji Bati is in Group B with defending champions Australia, Scotland and Ireland.
The Fiji Bati has shown consistency reaching the semi-finals of the last three events in 2008, 2013 and 2017.
