Eastern Province Rugby has the spotlight on them after Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula told the media he will be paying EP Rugby president Cheeky Watson a special visit in the near future.
The reason for the urgent visit stems from a total of R 35 Million Rand the Union received from the National Lotteries Board for the establishment and development of the SARU Kings Academy.
“I will be on my way to the Eastern Cape very soon so that I can personally see where the Academy is and where the black players are that were supposed to be recruited. I expect a report from him (Watson). The Kings are meant to be the homeland of black players and that was the reasoning behind them getting a Super Rugby spot. The last time I was there, all I saw was white players and never saw any of the black players who were supposed to be there,” Mbalula told a media briefing.
EPRU executive member, Vernon Stuurman, spoke on behalf of the union while Watson is overseas, where, among others, he will be meeting with the sponsors over the delayed funding.
“The SARU Kings Academy is 1 of 4 Academies that were established by SA Rugby with funding received from the National Lotteries Board. The other 3 Academies are based at the Border, SWD and Boland rugby unions. All 4 Academies were administered by SARU and EP Rugby will engage with the mother body to make the report on the funding received, which has been submitted to the National Lotteries Board, available to the minister’s office,” Stuurman said.
Addressing the matter of the sponsor, Stuurman said the EP Rugby executive were aware of the delays and were being kept abreast of the situation. He said the funding would be a game changer for both the professional body as well as the union.
“We understand the frustrations over the delays but we also understand that there are significant challenges when dealing with such a huge sum of money,” he added.
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