Rugby Africa has been made aware of the difficulties encountered by the Zimbabwean Rugby team – the Sables – with regards to their accommo...
Rugby Africa has been made aware of the difficulties
encountered by the Zimbabwean Rugby team – the Sables – with regards to their
accommodation in Tunisia. We would like to reassure the Zimbabwean Ministry of
Sports, Zimbabwe Rugby Union, and all partners and fans that the situation was
addressed immediately, and an acceptable solution has been found this morning.
Tunisia Rugby Union took the Sables management to visit another hotel which was
accepted.
Rugby Africa and Tunisia Rugby Union would like to express
their sincere apologies to the Sables team and management for this unfortunate
situation. This does not reflect the standards of the Rugby Africa Gold Cup
competition and we sincerely regret any prejudice caused.
I apologise on
behalf of Tunisia Rugby Union, we pride ourselves in hosting Rugby Africa
tournaments every year and make every effort to meet the best international
standards
Mr Khaled Babbou, Executive member of Rugby Africa, is
currently on his way to Beja to inspect the facilities and meet with the Sables
team. “I apologise on behalf of Tunisia Rugby Union, we pride ourselves in
hosting Rugby Africa tournaments every year and make every effort to meet the
best international standards in terms of accommodation and other
infrastructure. Something went wrong for which I am sorry, but this was
corrected this morning in consultation with the Sables management team. I can
assure you that there was absolutely no intention to destabilise our opponents
and we will make every possible effort to ensure they have a good preparation
ahead of Saturday’s match.”
The President of Rugby Africa Abdelaziz Bougja confirmed
“our hosting agreements are signed by the six participating unions in the Rugby
Africa Gold Cup and are very clear and strict in terms of accommodation
standards. We rely on our unions to make sure the requirements are met and it
is unfortunate that it seemed not to be the case with this hotel in Tunisia.
However Tunisia Rugby Union has our trust, they are long term partners to Rugby
Africa, hosting several matches and tournaments on our behalf every year, I
know for a fact that hospitality matters to them and they have taken this issue
very seriously and are rectifying it. Player welfare is at the heart of our
preoccupations so we are not taking this lightly. We wish both teams the best
for Saturday’s game. The Gold Cup has been a huge success so far, helping to
raise standards of African rugby, and popularity of the Game, we would like to
thank the six teams , six hosting unions, ministries of sports, our broadcaster
Kwese Sports and all our partners and sponsors for their support and
assistance.”
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Rugby Africa.
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