Digicel Fiji CEO, Darren McLean confirms that he had delivered ex gratia payments himself to a representative of the Vodafone Fiji 7s squad, yesterday

McLean says the money was for the players who played at the Gold Coast 7s and not the Fiji Rugby Union.

“I’m not sure what else we can really add, yesterday I personally made the $20,000 payment to the representatives of the players. I never said that we were making it to the FRU, so it’s true that FRU has not received from Digicel. The incentive was to support the guys directly, that was the ex gratia payment.”

McLean adds he will not reveal who the representative was but made sure the payment was received by the players.

This was following the press release by the Fiji Rugby Union saying that they haven’t received such payment.

Meanwhile, Vodafone Fiji which is the official sponsor of the national 7s team has also raised concerns at the press release issued by Digicel and they have sort clarification from FRU and no one seems to be aware of it.

Vodafone says they work hand in hand with the management in order to make players have a more enriching experience that of previous years.

It adds they have had very open discussions with FRU in order to make the sport grow.