The Fiji Rakavi Football Union Limited (FRFU) confirms that a Judicial Committee hearing chaired by a World Rugby Judicial Officer was conducted on 16 June 2026 to consider serious incidents arising from the Vodafone Vanua Championship match between Tavua Rugby Union and Rewa Rugby Union.<\/p>\n
Following consideration of the match reports, video evidence, witness statements and submissions presented at the hearing, the Judicial Officer found that two Tavua Rugby Union players had breached World Rugby Regulation 17, Law 9.28 relating to misconduct towards a Match Official. The offences involved verbal abuse, repeated disrespect of the authority of a Match Official and, in one instance, physical abuse of a Match Official.<\/p>\n
The Judicial Officer determined that the conduct was serious, unacceptable and fundamentally inconsistent with the values of rugby. The conduct was also found to have had a significant psychological impact on the Match Official involved.<\/p>\n
Jone Lewenilovo (Tavua Rugby Union) was found to have breached Regulation 17, Law 9.28 by verbally abusing and repeatedly disrespecting the authority of a Match Official. The Judicial Officer found that after being instructed to step away from the Match Official, the player continued to confront and verbally abuse the official both on and off the field. A total sanction of 31 weeks (7 months and 3 weeks) was imposed.<\/p>\n
Gabrieli Ratu (Captain, Tavua Rugby Union) was found to have breached Regulation 17, Law 9.28 through both verbal and physical abuse of a Match Official. Having considered all evidence presented, including video footage, the Judicial Officer found on the balance of probabilities that the player physically abused the Match Official before continuing to verbally abuse the official. A total sanction of 52 weeks (1 year) was imposed.<\/p>\n
The sanctions take immediate effect and have been accepted by Tavua Rugby Union.<\/p>\n
In addition to their respective suspensions, both individuals are required to successfully complete an FRFU-supervised Anger Management Programme and attend a Level 1 Match Official Introduction Course as part of their rehabilitation. Neither individual will be eligible to participate in any rugby activity, in any capacity, until all rehabilitation requirements have been completed to the satisfaction of FRFU.<\/p>\n
These sanctions are consistent with FRFU Circular No. 12 of 2026, issued this week to all affiliated Provincial Unions, reaffirming the Union\u2019s Zero Tolerance Policy on abuse of Match Officials, assault, intimidation, threatening behaviour and field invasions.<\/p>\n
The Circular reminds all participants that rugby is built on the core values of Respect, Integrity, Discipline, Solidarity and Passion, and that Match Officials are appointed to administer the Laws of the Game and must be afforded the highest level of respect at all times.<\/p>\n
FRFU further reminds Provincial Unions, Team Management, Coaches, Captains and Players that they share responsibility for ensuring a safe and respectful match environment. This includes maintaining player discipline, controlling team personnel, managing spectator behaviour and ensuring the protection of Match Officials before, during and after matches.<\/p>\n
Acting Chief Operations Officer Talemo Waqa said the sanctions send a clear message that abuse of Match Officials will not be tolerated at any level of the game.<\/p>\n
\u201cMatch Officials are an essential part of rugby and deserve to perform their duties in a safe and respectful environment. These incidents fall well short of the standards expected in Fiji Rugby and have no place in our game.\u201d<\/p>\n
He continued saying, \u201cWe will continue to take firm action against any individual or organisation whose conduct threatens the welfare of Match Officials or undermines the integrity of rugby.\u201d<\/p>\n
FRFU reiterates its unwavering commitment to protecting Match Officials and preserving the integrity of the game. Abuse, intimidation, threats, harassment or physical misconduct directed towards Match Officials will be dealt with firmly and decisively.<\/p>\n
The safety of Match Officials is non-negotiable. Any conduct that brings rugby into disrepute or undermines the values upon which the game is founded will attract serious disciplinary consequences.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Fiji Rakavi Football Union Limited (FRFU) confirms that a Judicial Committee hearing chaired by a World Rugby…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":743817,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-743816","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/743816","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=743816"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/743816\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/743817"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=743816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=743816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=743816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}