The Boxing Commission of Fiji’s chairman Adi Narayan has voiced his frustration over the financial support his organisation receives from government.
When he took over as chairman in July 2023 Narayan said he had done extensive research on BCF financial needs to operate efficiently, which was presented to the Minister of Youth and Sports.
“So, I had all those properly done. We did some research, and I did some costing, and we came up with a budget. Something like, you know, a couple hundred thousand dollars.” Narayan said.
“That would give us a good working budget to cater for the development of professional boxing in Fiji.”
Despite the provision of his reports highlighting BCF’s financial needs, Narayan is disappointed with the governments budget allocation for professional boxing.
“The $48,000 budget that the Boxing Commission gets, what do you expect out of that? If we have the funds, like other sports, the rugby union, the amateur boxing, what do we get, $48,000? What do you expect from the Boxing Commission to do?”
He adds that through BCF’s recent boxing promotions Fiji has created headlines in the region, but despite this government is still reluctant to back the organisation.
“Our boxers are making headlines, man. The headlines, they’re putting professional boxing, at Oceania International level. But what sort of money do we get? What sort of financial back do we get from the Sports Commission and the Ministry of Sports? So, without money we can’t do much.”
In his reply to Narayan, Minister for Youth and Sport Jese Saukuru says the allocation for BCF has increased since he took office.
“Yes, for BCF, actually they were given less before. In the previous government, they used to get $30,000 and it was during our term that we increased it to $48,000,” Saukuru confirmed.
He adds that despite their contribution and the ministry’s submission, they can only work with what they have been allocated with.
“They’ve given their submission; we’ve put it through to the Ministry of Finance. But the Ministry of Finance feel that that’s what we deserve, we’ll work within that budget. We can’t complain.”
In the 2025-2026 budget, the BCF was allocated $48,913.
