New Zealand Rugby has confirmed to 1 NEWS it will acknowledge the Covid-19 crisis in Fiji at this weekend's Test match between the Flying Fijians and All Blacks in Hamilton.
It comes after multiple Fijian Leaders expressed their disappointment with both sides for failing to recognise the worsening situation in the island nation last week in Dunedin.
"We were very disappointed last weekend," Krish Naidu, president of the Fiji Girmit Foundation of New Zealand, told 1 NEWS.
"We gathered around a bowl of kava, 100 people and we couldn't see any signs of leadership from the New Zealand Rugby Union in terms of paying tribute to the people back home.
"There was no moment of silence and we thought that should have been done at the minimum."
A month out from the first test in Dunedin, the Fiji Girmit Foundation emailed New Zealand Rugby asking for 10 per cent of proceeds from ticket sales to go to Fiji's Covid relief efforts.
1 NEWS can reveal NZ Rugby replied saying it'd be passed on to the ticketing team but added if they supported one country financially, they'd need to do it for all games.
Since the initial contact, the outbreak has gotten significantly worse, leading Naidu to reach out again last week, pleading for NZR to donate five per cent of proceeds but never got a response.
This afternoon, NZR said the first email should have been passed further up the organisation but confirmed there will be clear Covid vaccination messaging this weekend across all LED signage, on the field and the big screens.
There was no mention of ticket proceeds however Pacific GP Network chairman Dr Api Talemaitoga said the messaging was welcomed.
“For a rugby mad country like Fiji they will be watching the game from pre-start to finish and so any messaging is important,” Talemaitoga said.
“This is what New Zealand stands for - what a lot of us have been saying - and I hope the rugby mad public in Fiji look at that and somehow it helps them think about vaccination as an option.”
As for the Flying Fijians, who scrapped plans to wear special jerseys last week with a vaccination message on them due to a lack of communication with players, discussions are ongoing between them, their union and sponsor Fiji Airways about this weekend’s kit.
1 NEWS understands an outcome is expected later tonight.
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