Rugby Players Need To Know Employment Rules
Rugby players need to understand the agreement and honour the deal when they sign a professional contract. The recent controversy surrounding Vodafone Fijian 7s rep Savenaca Rawaca, the Fiji Rugby Union and the Fijian Teachers Association show the importance of abiding by contracts. Nobody benefits from the publicity that should not have eventuated if Rawaca sought advice from the right source in the first place. The FTA had good intentions in trying to pay for Rawaca’s admittance at the Suva Private Hospital after he was injured at the Hong Kong Sevens earlier last month with the understanding that they will pay the bills, via a local purchase order, at the end of the month.
The FRU later paid for the bills after being notified by the hospital that they needed to settle the debt incurred by Rawaca earlier this week. While player welfare is paramount to sports organisations, the players need to play their part as well.
Perhaps the solution lies in better education and understanding of the regulation and details involved before they put pen to paper. The former can be achieved through the implementation of a personal development programme. While Tier One players look to their Players Association for advice on such matters, the best our contracted players could do was seek professional help from their employer-in this case the Fiji Rugby Union The bottom line is before signing a professional rugby contract is that you need independent, quality ad- vice.
Our contracted 7s players maybe in the spotlight for their recent achievements on the World Sevens Series, but they need to tow the line and abide by the rules. Rawaca should have consulted with FRU first to avoid the controversy. The least FRU needs now is to be engrossed in controversial circumstances. The input should be more directed in the defence of the World Sevens Series next month and winning our first medal at the 2016 Olympic Games in August.