The public deserves to know
It appears that the Fiji Rugby Union’s (FRU) interim board of trustees have a lot more work on their hands than they initially signed up for. With the revelations that the registration and ownership of Fiji Rugby Union Limited (FRU Ltd) are in question, the circle of issues to this saga seem to be getting wider.
Our investigative journalist and editor, Ivamere Nataro, is slowly unravelling the mystery of just who, what, where, why, when and how exactly did a Mr John Doe come to own 100 per cent of FRU Ltd. Ms Nataro has uncovered in the Shine A Light edition this weekend that the registration documents indicate that FRU Ltd is a public company limited by guarantee.
It was established in April 2019 as the commercial arm of the Fiji Rugby Union (FRU), although it has been inactive since then.
However, the articles of association of the company have been operational.
A significant issue arises from the fact that the previous FRU board operated without any mention of the Union being a Trust.
This has led to the realisation that the appointment and actions of the former board over the past four years may have been illegal, considering that the Union is registered as a Charitable Trust under the Charitable Trust Act 1945, as confirmed by records from the Registrar of Titles.
The deregistration of FRU as a Charitable Trust in January 2022, two years after being registered as a company, has further complicated the matter.
This was why the Minister for Justice, Siromi Turaga, stepped in and exercised his powers.
As a result of this, what we feared that could happen at the start of this saga is now slowly taking shape. Fiji, while it maintains a place in World Rugby, has been suspended from the World Rugby Council.
And being suspended, until we get our house in order, means not getting a seat or a say at the table, missing out of the perks and critical information that we need to take Fijian rugby to the next level. Therefore, this several-part investigative series, may leave you hanging on the edge of your seat but slowly and surely, the truth and facts that have been kept behind the closed doors of that iconic vale kau (wooden house) on Gordon Street, will be made known public.
And the public deserves to know.
Not just because we’ve been dubbed a rugby-crazy nation but at the core of journalism is the strong belief that access to information enables people to make well and informed decisions.