Peter Mazey, the interim Trustees Chairman of the Fiji Rugby Union (FRU), has verified that 26 member unions have supported a new structural modification at the Special General Meeting held at the Novotel Suva Lami Bay Convention Centre on Saturday. This change includes the formation of a managerial company named Fiji Rugby Union Limited.
“Our charity will oversee the entire operation,” Mazey stated, indicating that sectors including the Drua and Counter Ruck and properties like Rugby House and the High-Performance Units will be under its purview. He anticipates that this fresh commercial structure of the FRU will be operational for the next two to three decades.
The restructuring process received support from the New Zealand Rugby, which is undergoing a similar overhaul, and World Rugby, which financed a consultant. The newly proposed structure, Mazey noted, is wholly union-centric as members will nominate and vote their representatives for various positions. Government or Prime Minister’s nominee and World Rugby appointments will no longer exist.
Mazey revealed that the new voting system—one vote per union member and association—was implemented without discrepancies, earning unanimous consent from all the union members. This new constitution, having received approval in the SGM, will now be presented to World Rugby, which Mazey hopes would lead to FRU’s readmission to the World Rugby council as full members.