Samoa laments “lack of justice and fairness”

“…the latest restriction will push beyond small Unions like Samoa the ability to access the best elite players for the 2016, Olympics as well as making sure that eligibility rules are fair and transparent in any other form of the Game” – the Samoa Rugby Union

The Samoa Rugby Union (S.R.U) has lamented the “lack of justice and fairness” over the International Rugby Board’s (I.R.B) decision to tighten eligibility laws governing the game.

Prime Minister and the Chairman of S.R.U, Tuilaepa Sa’ilele Malielegaoi, makes the point in a statement issued yesterday about the I.R.B’s u-turn on legibility laws.

Last week, it was revealed that International Olympic Committee's widely discussed eligibility loophole, which allows players who have played Test rugby at any level for one nation to represent another if they hold that nation's passport, was tightened further by the I.R.B.

Previously, players who hadn't played an international for 18 months could participate in the Sevens World Series and become eligible to play for that same nation in all forms of rugby.

However, the I.R.B. now requires players to take the field in a minimum of four World Series tournaments for their conversion to be approved.

The Chairman of the I.R.B. Bernard Lapasset, defended the change.

"These rulings of the I.R.B. Regulations Committee will further assist our unions with their preparation and underscores our commitment to ensure a successful and spectacular Olympic Games debut at Rio 2016 and beyond," he said.

Not so, according to Tuilaepa.

The S.R.U Chairman said the “lack of justice and fairness in this amendment does not exemplify a fair level playing field nor encourage member unions to sustain support of the processes utilized in this case to arrive at such decision.

“In the spirit of Unions, having access to the best available to participate in the Olympics, Samoa would like to seek further understanding of how this process has come about.

“It is critical for fair representation of the national game, that all ethnic players have a fair eligibility process to qualify themselves for the Olympics in 2016 and beyond as expressed under the Olympic Movement Charter.

“The initial process of eligibility expressed by the IRB earlier this year and prior to this latest advice was judged as fair.

“Significantly the latest restriction will push beyond small Unions like Samoa the ability to access the best elite players for the 2016, Olympics as well as making sure that eligibility rules are fair and transparent in any other form of the Game.

“There should be one eligibility criteria for all forms of the game and 1 SWS Tournament should be sufficient for qualification. The Olympic eligibility rule should be the gold standard and adopted by other forms of the game.”

The statement from the S.R.U quotes Tuilaepa as saying: “Therefore I urged everyone to work towards protecting and promoting the ideals of the Olympics in rugby.”

“The International Rugby Board has toughened up on eligibility rules for players looking to switch allegiance in countries ahead of the 2015 Rugby World Cup. The World Sevens series has eight rounds so any player wanting to switch country would have to play in half of the Sevens events.

“The new rules further stated that players who start the process but do not complete it will be prevented from reverting back to their original country.”