SA Rugby’s dirty laundry just gets dirtier………now with audio

http://www.pmg.org.za/node/12721SA Rugby Super 14 franchise participation agreement: six franchises

Last week Tuesday, SA Rugby’s president was caught on tape, flanked by his SA Rugby chairman, Mpumelelo Tshume, telling pork pies.

Not one eeny-teeny porkie for which you might be inclined to say, “Oops, sorry,” but three whoppers and a most hurtful and disparaging remark on the current Springbok coach that were caught on audio- and videotape.

What this means is that Mr Oregan Hoskins, current President of SA Rugby, has perjured himself before Parliament and has misled Parliament by being less than candid and overly economical with the truth.
Hoskins as President of SA Rugby was asked to present to the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee of Sport an update of transformation, the status of Super 14 rugby in the Eastern Cape and details of the SuperSport deal that he signed without reading on 23rd November 2007.

There were 2 television cameras present, one each from SABC and e-tv and all delegates around the table had a microphone before them that lit up in red when they spoke, so that was no situation of statements being made that could be lost in translation.
In a presentation made by Hoskins, on behalf of SA Rugby, he was singularly inept, tactless and generally showed a complete lack of decorum or manners, often interrupting and lapsing into long diatribes that was more befitting of a ten year old on a school playground, than the President of the SA Rugby Union.
In summary, misinformation tabled by Regan Hoskins last Tuesday to the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee of Sport, that will come back to haunt him, were:

1. When asked how was it possible that a convicted murderer was permitted by SA Rugby to continue playing in tournaments – he replied that the player was indeed banned and that he asked the President of the Pumas to do this. This is false and has been denied by the President of the Pumas.
2. When asked why SABC did not screen Currie Cup games – Hoskins replied he had spent hours with the SABC negotiating airtime for rugby and he said Mavuso Mbebe of SABC Sport replied that “they would not have space on their channels even if they were given these matches. They felt that soap operas were more important to their viewers.” This is false and will be refuted on Tuesday by SABC in Parliament.
3. Hoskins became increasingly animated and belligerent, accusing Mike Stofile of underhanded electioneering by offering a “third force” comprising Johan Rupert the chairmanship of SA Rugby and Schalk Burger Snr a Presidents Council seat.

Tshume, the Chairman of SA Rugby, who was in attendance at the SABC meeting, at no time denied, corrected, or refuted any of Hoskins statements and clearly is an accessory to Hoskins’ maladministration of SA Rugby.

A particularly galling point in the discussion was Hoskins’ declaration that Peter de Villiers “was only the second choice but was appointed with a transformation objective”. And then there is the unlawful exclusion of the Spears from Super 14 in which Judge Dennis Davis declared the attached agreement legal and binding.

Hoskins’ complete disregard and serial violation of the SA Rugby Constitution, by permitting individuals and certain unions to not adhere to legal and binding agreements, combined with his contempt and disdain for the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee of Sport, in so public a forum, has and will continue to bring the game of rugby into disrepute.

The consequences of this will most likely be that Hoskins is impeached as President of SA Rugby and asked to stand down, throwing SA Rugby into a Constitutional crisis, calling into effect a Special General meeting of the Presidents Council to elect a new President. In addition, the Minister of Sport will likely invoke the Sport and Recreation Amendment Act of November 2007 and appoint a Judicial Commission of enquiry to resolve this dispute of lack of transformation in rugby, questionable corporate governance and repeated constitutional violations.

Further compounding Hoskins’ troubles is the advance payment of R30,000,000-00 which SuperSport made to SA Rugby for a 2011-2015 television deal, that the big five unions want all to themselves in a payment of R6m each, excluding the nine other unions of SA Rugby.

Unless there is a swift intervention to stop this uncontrollable meltdown in rugby, our precious game of rugby will be doomed.