Three years after the Samoan Rugby Union promised an audit, they release it and look like prats
This was probably an issue the SRU hoped would go away. Three years ago, after he was accosted by New Zealand journalist John Campbell, union chief executive Peter Schuster committed to an independent audit of the 6m Samoan tala (€2m) that was supposed to fund the Samoan rugby team before, during and after the 2011 World Cup.
The audit has finally been released and the results are paradoxically shocking and completely unsurprising. The bulk of the money, which was collected after a fund-raising drive in Samoa, never reached the players.
The audit notes instances of missing pages from receipt books, vanished receipt books, inadequate documents and no vouchers for expenses totalling just under €400,000.
The report begins with a biting statement from Campbell – ‘Samoan rugby deserves more than the cynical, old men running it’.
Campbell and TV3 News also report on the team switching hotels midway through the World Cup. The team resided at the Pacifica Inn for 12 days for 12,000 tala (approximately €4,000) before moving 600 metres up the road to another hotel. The second hotel bill ran to 174,000 tala (€60,000) for 15 days.
The team also appear to have been charged double the usual going rate for their board although this may be down to higher demand due to the World Cup. The hotel, Campbell reports, happens to be owned by the president of women’s rugby at the SRU.
Misappropriation of funds was first flagged by Samoan captain Mahonri Schwalger and fellow Manu Samoa players Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu and Seilala Mapusua at the 2011 World Cup. All three represented their country at the tournament but none have been selected for their country since.
You can check out the full TV3 report here.
