The future of rugby in the Eastern Province hangs in the balance in an uphill battle against inherited administrative problems, the Herald Online reported on Tuesday.
It quoted Eastern Province Rugby Union deputy president Aldy Meyer as saying players’ contracts for the 2006 season have not been renewed because of financial difficulties.
”It is not a case of not wanting to — it’s just that we don’t have the funds in the bank currently available, and it would not be good practice to promise our players contracts and then not be able to deliver.”
Meyer said a rescue plan is under urgent consideration to try to save the provincial side.
”There is light at the end of the tunnel, but there is still a lot of work to do,” said Meyer.
He said it is unfortunate that players were informed by letter that their current contracts were not going to be renewed.
This was, however, inevitable as all players had to be informed 30 days before their contracts expired.
”We still intend to sit down with each player individually and explain the situation. We are in the process of reviewing our financial situation, and are looking at our budget to see what expenses can be cut, and what we can afford to pay our players,” Meyer said.
This might mean a cut in salaries, and each player would then have to decide if he would be prepared to stay on or would look elsewhere.
”There are two challenges that Eastern Province rugby is currently facing: our expenses need to be brought down and we need to develop our income streams,” Meyer said. — Sapa