Fiji Rugby Union CEO John O’Connor has confirmed that he is in contact with World Rugby and awaiting the outcome of Fiji’s bid to host a tournament in the HSBC World 7's series in the 2019/2020 season.
He says the outcome will be known in September.
Fijivillage contacted O’Connor this morning to seek clarification regarding an article that was released yesterday by the New Zealand Herald.
The article states that New Zealand Rugby has won its bid to retain hosting rights for a World Sevens Series event and is believed to be planning to alternate where the tournament is played between Hamilton and Fiji.
O’Connor says he is not aware of any of these plans but they will wait for the outcome in September.
The FRU had lodged their tender 28th February, with a decision from World Rugby to be finalized in 28 June and now this has been shifted to September.
According to the article by the New Zealand Herald, the plan is that the 2019 event will be in Hamilton as part of the two‑year agreement reached between NZRU and World Rugby in mid‑2017 when New Zealand was granted a licence to continue hosting a World Series event on the condition it no longer used Wellington as the venue.
According to the Herald, NZRU is believed to have won a tender to extend its hosting licence beyond 2019 and has floated the idea of not using Hamilton as the venue every year ‑ but instead alternating with Suva.
With New Zealand's existing agreement due to expire after Hamilton hosts next year's event in January, World Rugby opened a competitive tender process, inviting interested parties to bid for the hosting rights for 2020 and beyond.
The article further states that it is believed that New Zealand has won the bid ‑ beating a tender, almost bizarrely, from the Fiji Rugby Union amongst others.
New Zealand Herald further states in the article that this means New Zealand has secured the right to continue to host a World Sevens Series event in 2020 and 2021 and possibly for longer depending on the length of the contract agreed in the tender.
The licence sits with NZRU and they are effectively free to host the event where they choose as long as World Rugby agrees.
It says the prospect of using Fiji, despite them making their own bid, as the host venue of NZRU's tournament every other year is one which World Rugby has presumably approved as part of the tender process.
By having an event in Fiji, NZRU would also be fulfilling one of its stated goals of helping promote and grow rugby in the wider Pacific region.
[Source: nzherald]
