The Zimbabwe Rugby Union was very disturbed to learn about racial allegations being printed in the Herald newspaper today. The Zimbabwe Rugby Union categorically refutes such allegations which have been made by an individual and are this personal opinions. These allegations are based on mis-information and the individual’s own interpretation of what he thinks are the facts. It is unfortunate that a matter that is this serious was released in the media without offering Zimbabwe Rugby an opportunity to address these points.
The Zimbabwe Rugby Union (ZRU) would like to address the allegations, by way of this press release and have called for a press conference with the media at short notice at 3.00pm today.
The racial allegations and concerns surrounding the operations at the union were raised by way of a letter to the ZRU from Losson Mtongwiza. This arrived at the Union on Friday 7th February. This letter was not sent through formal communication channels of the ZRU and was not addressed correctly to the President of the ZRU. The ZRU responded to this letter notifying the Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC) about these allegations. These allegations were then addressed by way of a hand delivered letter to the disgruntled party, Losson Mtongwiza. In this letter he was advised that the ZRU would sit with the Executive Committee to address his personal concerns.
Today, the first section of Losson Mtongwiza’s letter was published in the Herald newspaper. The ZRU promotes an open door policy with all stakeholders and was never questioned on these allegations by the sports editor who published the article. The article is subsequently subjective and misinformed.
In order to address these allegations and eliminate any grey area in the media, the ZRU has contacted a number of journalists to come to a press conference at 3.00pm today. It is hoped that specific issues can be raised and any misunderstanding can be eradicated.
A brief synopsis of the major issues at hand are:
1. The ZRU is largely made up of elected officials in line with the ZRU constitution, which is contrary to allegations that black officials are being systematically side lined from the game. There are a number of elected officials who are tasked to manage affairs within Zimbabwe Rugby, namely the President, Vice Presidents (North and South), Provincial Board Chairpersons, 2 Schools representatives, Zimbabwe Rugby Referees Society President and Chairperson for Woman’s rugby. Of these elected officials, 2 of these positions are held by white people.
2. The ZRU then employ 8 people within the game, these comprise of the General Manager, Technical Director of Rugby, Commercial Representative (Marketing and Media consultant), 3 Provincial Development managers, an Office Administrator and Office Messenger. Of these 8 positions, 2 of the positions are held by white people. In addition, appointments to national team committees are made in line with published ZRU policies and procedures. These appointments are voluntary positions.
3. The ZRU commercial program continues to struggle in a difficult economy however the commercial program has achieved the following:
- In 2012, under Dominus Sport $44,500 was secured in sponsorship. This program was limited by the fact that only 1 home international match was held in Zimbabwe. This is not to mention contra-deals, corporate hospitality packages and preferential rates secured for Zimbabwe Rugby.
- In 2013 the commercial person in question highlighted reservations that no home internationals were scheduled in Zimbabwe, which limited the ability to engage Zimbabwean companies. In April he made his services unavailable to the Sables committee, based on these reservations.
- In 2013, the focus for this person was subsequently on the International 7s tournament and Summer 7s Series which yielded a total commercial contribution of $211,608 to the sport.
- In July 2013, the Union asked this commercial person to consult to all the national team committees as a marketing consultant. In September the National (15s) Coach arranged a meeting with a corporate, which was attended by Losson Mtongwiza and the commercial person. From this point the sponsorship proposal, activation and evaluation was successfully delivered for this corporate by the commercial person, which yielded a value of US$48,625.
- In 2014, 2 sizable sponsorship programs are in their final stages of approval, which will bring adequate sponsorship to 15s rugby. The allegations that have been aired are damaging to this approval process, however these corporates are been contacted to clarify these allegations.
4. The position of the Director of rugby role was widely advertised in the media, with Liam Middleton being identified as the most qualified person to fulfill this position. Liam Middleton is the most qualified person in Zimbabwe (from a technical perspective) and has considerable high level coaching experience at this time. The issues raised regarding Liam Middleton are a subjective matter. Liam Middleton is committed to ensuring Zimbabwe is in the best possible position it can be in to qualify for Rugby World Cup 2015 and the 7s and 15s games at all levels are fully developed within the environment the union works in.
5. Abigail Mnikwa has signed her terms of reference with the Union as Team Physiotherapist for the Sables. Terms of reference have been signed by all Technical and Management Staff of the Zimbabwe Sables team, except Losson Mtongwiza.
6. Zimbabwe Rugby will only realize whether they qualify for Rugby World Cup 2015 after the Africa Cup qualification process in July this year. It is subsequently impractical to enter into any Memorandum of Agreement to the World Cup if this opportunity has not been realized. If successful however, the technical structures surrounding the Sables management team will have to be expanded and the best people for the relevant roles will be offered new contracts irrespective of their color, religion or any other demographic background.
6. Personal money has been committed by both black and white people into all levels of the game, the receipts and invoices of which are being put on record.
7. Zimbabwe Rugby, is committed to preparing for the upcoming International programs (15s and 7s) in the best possible manner, based on the resources at hand. A strength and conditioning program has been in place since September 2013 for all Sables (15s) and 7s players at one of Zimbabwe’s leading gym facilities. The national 7s squad has been in a high performance program since the 6th January in preparations for the upcoming Zimbabwe Invitational 7s and Hong Kong tournaments. The national 15s players have started their high performance program in Harare and Bulawayo and a concentrated preparation program has been confirmed in May and June to prepare the team for the Rugby World Cup qualifiers. The national ladies 7s team (Lady Cheetahs) have also started their preparations for the Africa Cup 7s to be held in early April this year in Kenya.
Further details and information regarding specific issues will be addressed at the press conference, to be held at the Zimbabwe Rugby Union at 3pm today