adminNuku’alofa — World Rugby said yesterday it had agreed on a rescue package for the financially strapped Tonga Rugby Union (TRU) designed to address long-standing governance concerns.
The TRU revealed last month that it had been placed in receivership with debts of $130,000 and could not afford to pay staff salaries.
It said that as a result, World Rugby had suspended an $850,000 grant due to be paid in mid-March and was sending a delegation to the Pacific island nation to find out what was happening. World Rugby said it had held “positive and constructive” meetings in Nuku’alofa with the TRU and the Tongan government.
“(We) have agreed a package of reforms designed to address on-going governance concerns within the union and support the future sustainable growth of rugby in Tonga,” it said in a statement.
World Rugby did not provide financial details of the rescue plan but its rugby committee member John Jeffrey described it a “a prudent support package”.
It includes a 10-year funding deal between World Rugby, the TRU and the government to be carried out under good governance criteria. — AFP.
derick.khumalo