The Suva Rugby Union has called on the governing Fiji Rugby Union to be fair and transparent in the process of selecting the next Flying Fijians head coach.
SRU secretary Nemani Tuifagalele expressed disappointment with the procedures undertaken by FRU, emphasising the questionable treatment of acting Flying Fijians head coach Senirusi Seruvakula.
The discontent arises from the handling of Seruvakula’s application, initially deemed unsuccessful on Thursday, he then received an unexpected turn of events after two hours. He received another email stating that his application was considered successful and was shortlisted.
The email, strangely enough, was dated a day prior to its receipt.
“Global Elite Sports company from New Zealand played a pivotal role in shortlisting candidates for the interviews,” Tuifagalele said.
“The company communicated contradictory messages, initially rejecting Seruvakula’s application due to not meeting the requirements of a head coach, only to later reverse their decision, stating he was successful (shortlisted).
“This code of conduct is very disrespectful, FRU hiring an offshore company to help them with the process, they send Senirusi email stating his application is unsuccessful and after two hours they sent another email stating his application is successful and they want to interview on the same day which was yesterday (Thursday).
“It was a very disrespectful way of conduct from FRU.”
The interview panel is believed to be Youth and Sports permanent secretary Rovereto Nayacalevu, FRU interim board chair Peter Mazey, FRU elite pathway and performance manager Bill Gadolo, Fiji Rugby general manager HP BJ Mather, former Fiji head coach and World Rugby high performance pathways and player development manager Simon Raiwalui and World Rugby rep Mike McGovern.
