NETBALL Fiji president RubyAnn Sorovaki has defended the organisation following the recent claims of mismanagement by some Fiji Pearls players.
Last week, the Pearls released a scathing letter that detailed a list of logistical and organisational failures that have impacted the performance of the national team at the recent PacificAus Sports Series.
In the letter signed by some members of the Pearls stated that they were promised $250 in allowance but were only given $150, the balance was to be paid if they returned their playing kits.
This was on top of a mere $20 airport allowance.
Sorovaki explained that they were working according to their budget and Netball Fiji’s standard operating procedure.
“Every organisation has their own standard operating procedures; we had to work with the budgets we get and over two years now athletes have come back and have not returned their gears.
“It meant that every tour we had to go out and buy every suitcase, I don’t want to go into the nitty gritty so the communication on that was not told to them. During the tour, I took the time to sit with the whole team and explain why it was done and we all came to an understanding,” she said.
She also stated that they were in the process of addressing this issue.
“I can confirm that post-tournament, Netball Fiji always has a review where a sub-committee sits on a panel and we interview the players and all the management about what transpired. All those factors were brought to us, we were still putting that report together, it was presented, we have put a paper together to fix that going forward but unfortunately, I was advised that the letter has gone to the media from some Suva players.”
The welfare of the Pearls was one of the 12 motions discussed at the Special General Meeting last week where 15 out of the 19 associations walked out of and threatened that they are no longer affiliated to Netball Fiji.
