The Fiji Rakavi Football Union (FRFU) is proud to announce the appointment of Talemo Waqa as Acting Chief Operations Officer (COO), effective immediately.<\/p>\n
A highly respected leader in sports administration with more than 30 years of experience across sports management, education, and high-performance consultancy, Mr Waqa brings exceptional expertise and strategic vision to this critical role.<\/p>\n
This marks an important step forward for Fiji Rugby as the organisation continues to strengthen its operational excellence and long-term strategic direction.<\/p>\n
An Accomplished Sports Leader
A former Manager of the FRFU High-Performance Unit and a long-serving contributor to rugby development both locally and across the Pacific, Mr. Waqa brings an exceptional record of leadership, strategic vision, and capacity building.<\/p>\n
Prior to joining Fiji Rugby as acting COO, he served for 13 years as Regional Training Manager with Oceania Rugby, where he played a pivotal role in strengthening high-performance systems and advancing rugby development across the region. His deep understanding of elite performance structures, governance frameworks, and organizational development positions him strongly to lead the day-to-day operations of Fiji Rugby and support the continued growth of the sport nationally and internationally.<\/p>\n
FRU Chief Executive Officer Koli Sewabu welcomed the appointment, saying,<\/p>\n
\u201cTalemo brings a rare depth of experience, institutional knowledge, and leadership credibility to this role. His understanding of high-performance sport, governance, and the unique fabric of Fiji Rugby makes him exceptionally well suited to lead our operations during this important phase of growth. We are confident that under his guidance, the organisation will continue to move forward with clarity, stability, and purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n
Distinguished Professional Background
Mr Waqa is the Founder and Managing Director of Kiliati Enterprise, a leading sports management and high-performance consultancy firm. He currently serves as Regional Training Manager for Oceania Rugby under World Rugby, where he has played a central role in delivering leadership, management, and coaching programs throughout the Pacific region.<\/p>\n
His professional experience includes extensive consultancy work with major sporting bodies such as ONOC (Oceania National Olympic Committees) and FASANOC (Fiji Association of Sports and National Olympic Committee), contributing significantly to the development of sport across the region.<\/p>\n
Within Fiji Rugby, Mr Waqa has previously held senior leadership roles including Manager for Rugby Development, Referees, and the High-Performance Unit. Beyond sport, he has served the education sector for over two decades as both a teacher and administrator.<\/p>\n
Key Achievements & Expertise
Mr Waqa\u2019s career highlights include:
\u2013 World Rugby Master Trainer and Regional Training Manager \u2013 Oceania Rugby
\u2013 Former Manager \u2013 High-Performance Unit, Fiji Rugby Union (2009\u20132011)
\u2013 Consultant for ONOC OSEP, FASANOC, and numerous national federations
\u2013 Lead developer of strategic plans for sporting organizations including Fiji Football, Weightlifting Fiji, Boxing Fiji, and others
\u2013 Extensive experience in planning and delivering major regional and international sporting events including the Pacific Games, Oceania Rugby Sevens, and World Rugby events<\/p>\n
-Widely recognized for his contributions to sports education, leadership development, and capacity building across the Pacific.<\/p>\n
Throughout his career, Mr Waqa has mentored countless sports administrators, coaches, and athletes across disciplines including rugby, athletics, and volleyball, while playing a key role in developing regional training curriculums.<\/p>\n
Driving the Future of Fiji Rugby
As Acting COO, Mr Waqa will oversee all operational functions of Fiji Rugby, with a strong focus on organizational efficiency, innovation, and sustainable growth. His leadership will support the alignment of FRU\u2019s operations with its strategic objectives \u2014 strengthening player welfare, deepening community engagement, and enhancing Fiji\u2019s global standing in both XVs and Sevens rugby. His appointment reinforces FRU\u2019s commitment to high-performance standards, strong governance, and long-term development of the game at all levels.<\/p>\n
A Legacy of Leadership
With a career defined by integrity, excellence, and service to sport, Talemo Waqa\u2019s appointment reflects the FRU\u2019s confidence in his ability to lead Fiji Rugby into its next chapter. The Union looks forward to his stewardship as it continues to build on its proud legacy and pursue even greater success on the world stage.<\/p>\n
The COO appointment is an acting one, pending the official endorsement of a new organizational structure, after which the position will be advertised. The board stated the move is crucial to free the CEO to focus on strategic priorities, most notably the significant workload ahead of Fiji hosting the 2026 Nation\u2019s Championship in the UK. Preparations are already underway and are demanding considerable executive attention.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Fiji Rakavi Football Union (FRFU) is proud to announce the appointment of Talemo Waqa as Acting Chief…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":374799,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-374798","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-rugby","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374798","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=374798"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374798\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/374799"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=374798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=374798"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=374798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}