The IRB made the following statement:

The International Rugby Board has confirmed that it is to suspend all direct financial support to the Fiji Rugby Union (FRU) with immediate effect until the Union adopts key financial reporting, administration and governance reforms.

The decision was reluctantly made after the Union failed to implement recommended measures to provide assurances to the IRB that it was appropriately moving to address significant concerns regarding the administration and governance of the Union. The recommendations arose from an IRB Major Union Review which was conducted after the Union requested emergency financial assistance in May last year.

The IRB and the FORU Regional Association have formally expressed concerns that the financial position of the Union is unsustainable and could create instability and impact on the management of the Union and key IRB-funded development and high performance programmes.

The IRB committed GB£1.1million (FJ$3.3million) in direct funding to the FRU in 2013 and significant additional financial assistance to participate in international tournaments in 2013.

The IRB remains committed to Rugby in Fiji and the performance of the men’s and women’s national Fifteens and Sevens teams and will work closely with FORU and the FRU to ensure that all administration and governance reforms are delivered and funding is reinstated.

Fiji Response:

The Fiji Rugby Union responded by saying that it’s cash-strapped rugby union pledged on Sunday to be back on side with the International Rugby Board in four months after its World Cup plans were hit when all financial aid was cut.

The Fiji Rugby Union (FRU) responded by saying it was dealing with the issues and would still go to the IRB for money if it needed to.

“Please note that all these issues were inherited by this current FRU board and the board expects to clear up all these issues by end of May 2014,” the FRU said in a statement.

The FRU said it had so far used 200,000 British pounds ($329,000) of a 250,000 pound grant towards its 2015 World Cup campaign.

“The FRU board will only ask for the further funding from IRB if absolutely necessary or not at all, and reserve this funding for our World Cup preparations.

“To alleviate the financial crisis the FRU board is currently working on fundraising activities, approaching several sponsors and the Fiji government through the Fiji Sports Commission to assist the FRU.”

Although 50,000 pounds remained in the World Cup kitty, Fiji coach Inoke Male told AFP “more funds from the IRB would have to be good for Fiji”.

The IRB said it had committed “1.1 million pounds in direct funding to the FRU in 2013 and significant additional financial assistance to participate in international tournaments in 2013”.

It added that it had formally expressed concerns that the “financial position of the union is unsustainable and could create instability and impact on the management of the union and key IRB-funded development and high performance programmes”.

The FRU this week admitted it was struggling to pay the salary of high-profile Sevens coach Ben Ryan, forcing him to work voluntarily for three months.

The Englishman’s appointment was announced with much fanfare in September, when he was charged with improving the skillful but inconsistent islanders ahead of Sevens’ Olympic debut in 2016.

However, Ryan said “not a penny” of his salary had been paid and he was living off his savings, including covering the cost of flights home to see his family over the festive season.