South African Rugby Union (Saru) president Brian van Rooyen on Monday made overwhelming strides over his deputy, Andre Markgraaff, in the spiteful race for control of the sport in this country.
After viewing Markgraaff’s allegations contained in a 14-page dossier on Monday, 11 of the 14 provincial union presidents — all those present at a hastily convened meeting — declared their unequivocal support of the embattled rugby boss.
The move effectively rubber-stamped Van Rooyen’s re-election as president of Saru a month before the special general meeting on June 17, as it is the various presidents who will vote on the matter.
Before the hastily arranged ”meeting of the presidents” — as Van Rooyen dubbed it — at Ellis Park on Monday, a cloud of uncertainty prevailed, but it became perfectly clear after the meeting that Van Rooyen has enough support regardless of what Markgraaff’s 14-page dossier says.
Speaking on behalf of the 11 presidents, Jackie Abrahams, president of the Boland Rugby Union, openly declared the full backing of Van Rooyen by those present.
”We as presidents here forward a vote of confidence in Brian,” he said.
In a cleverly orchestrated move, Van Rooyen addressed members of the media with the 11 presidents standing behind him — a defiant gesture for the TV cameras to Markgraaff and his followers.
”I am relieved after having viewed the dossier,” said Van Rooyen, obviously unperturbed by the allegations therein. ”I firmly believe I have acted in the interest of SA Rugby.
”What has happened in the past few weeks is certainly not good for rugby. However, my intention is not to respond to the allegations [on Monday].”
Van Rooyen pleaded with the sponsors of the game and the public to be patient.
”We are aware of the concerns, particularly those of the sponsors, and we need to find a way forward.”
To that end, an urgent president’s council meeting is scheduled for Thursday, where it is hoped some clarity will be forthcoming.
First, though, Van Rooyen will attend a Parliament portfolio committee meeting in Cape Town on Tuesday.
”That meeting was arranged ages ago and I will honour that,” he said.
The three presidents who failed to make the trip to Johannesburg were KwaZulu-Natal’s Oregan Hoskins, Western Province’s Koos Basson, and Dolf van Huyssteen of the Blue Bulls, the latter two known opponents to Van Rooyen’s reign.
Van Rooyen called the meeting late on Sunday night following weekend disclosures that a dossier had been compiled of alleged irregularities in Van Rooyen’s running of the game by Markgraaff and his supporters.
Van Rooyen would not divulge the contents of said dossier on Monday, but it apparently includes details of the signing of an agreement for the Rainbow Cup competition without proper authorisation, as well as irregularities involving the awarding of South Africa’s fifth Super 14 franchise to the Central region instead of the Port Elizabeth-based franchise.
Markgraaff alleged that Van Rooyen also, without the knowledge of members of his management, formed a ”secret alliance” with former MD of SA Rugby Rian Oberholzer. He apparently appointed Oberholzer as a member of the bid commission for the 2011 Rugby World Cup at a salary of R100 000 a month.
Meanwhile, in a further twist, Hoskins refuted a Monday newspaper report that had him saying that Van Rooyen had indeed sought the proper authorisation from the president’s council relating to the two burning issues.
”I haven’t even seen the dossier [from Markgraaff]. Both issues were raised at previous president’s council meetings, but I cannot recall the exact details,” said Hoskins from Durban on Monday afternoon. ”I would need to consult the minutes of that meeting and I have not yet been able to do that.”
Hoskins is part of the Saru audit committee that is investigating the allegations against a number of the hierarchy of SA Rugby.
”For that reason,” Hoskins implored, ”it would be wrong of me to take sides.”
According to Hoskins, the report painted a false picture that put him squarely behind Van Rooyen.
”I’m not interested in taking sides. This is extremely sensitive and I want to be able to make a fair assessment of those allegations.”
Hoskins was unable to attend Monday’s meeting ”due to work commitments”.
”I only received an SMS at about 10.30pm last night and I was unable to make arrangements to get to Johannesburg,” he said. — Sapa