THE Fiji Rugby Union (FRU) has stated significant compliance issues among its provincial rugby unions in 2025, impacting game management and participation, this was revealed by Chief Executive officer Koli Sewabu.
Sewabu highlighted only two unions, Nadi and Ba, were fully compliant with the FRU’s terms of participation this year.
“If we took a hard stance on allowing the game to happen or not based on those compliances, then there will be no games,” he explained.
“But who gets affected? It’s the players that will get impacted; FRU will get impacted on that.”
He emphasised the need for practical solutions to keep the games running without compromising players or the integrity of the competition.
“So, we gave some leeway, some timelines on when that needs to be made. So, we ended up the year on a high, I believe,” he said.
Among the challenges Sewabu also revealed governance and administration issues within unions, with some still operating under constitutions drafted decades ago.
He confirmed plans for comprehensive audits and visits in early 2026 to address these gaps.
“We’re going to do three waves of visitation, consultation, and training and education… We’ll check and audit all the unions and get our legal team to look at their constitution.” Sewabu said.
He also highlighted on serious financial strains, noting losses in the domestic competitions and ongoing efforts to improve sustainability.
“When we re-looked at our financials for this year when it comes to our games, there’s definitely losses in our domestic competition,” Sewabu noted.
Looking ahead, the FRU is preparing a new strategic plan aimed at enhancing governance, commercial viability, and operational excellence.
Sewabu said the plan includes closer collaboration with unions and stricter compliance enforcement to prevent recurring issues.
“We want to work with our unions… Once that is set for next year, then we will start to review our terms of participation to ensure that all these compliance issues, historical compliance issues, are dealt with.” Sewabu explained.
Despite the challenges, Sewabu expressed optimism for the future of Fijian rugby.
“We are now in a much better space on understanding what that is and moving forward we are looking forward to the blessings and the opportunities that 2026 is bringing.” He said.
As Fiji Rugby enters a new chapter, the focus remains on strengthening governance and building a financially sustainable framework to support players, unions, and the sport’s growth across the nation.
