Dunne backs football

 

Good man - i think he was Wharfies patron at some stage

Now, can he name three Brazilians and three NZers who play for the Phoenix??

 

The sanctions policy has been very poorly applied or its completly flawed. It will be interesting to see how the Netball Champs get on! Adn of course you know the sevens will be fine even though we'll see them having a friendly game with el general presidente the week before.

 

Good idea. I think also useful to copy emails to Trevor Mallard as the Sports Minister. Surely, he has some responsibility here to advocate on football's behalf within the Government

 

 

 

I needed to get things off my chest, so i have sent this email to the two Ministers ...

 

The more of us who get worked up and email something the better

 

 

 

To the Ministers for Immigration and Sport

The decision to deny the Fijian goalkeeper has been massively costly to NZ football, and for little if any political benefit. If the application of this was  intended to punish Fiji, it has not. If the applications of this sanction was intended to isolate Frank Bainimarama, it has not. If the application of this sanctions was intended to maintain the credibility of the sanctions, it has not.

It seems either the design of the sanctions or their application is flawed - or both. The grounds upon which the goalkeeper was denied entry to NZ are tenuous at best, outright silly at worst. Given we have already permitted other Fijian sporting teams to visit NZ this year and given we were prepared to allow all but one of the Fijian football team to enter the country, it seems very tenuous for anybody to argue the decision to deny the goalkeeper access to NZ on such an indirect and passive relationship with the military (ie his partner's father) somehow maintains the credibility of an ethical stance or set of sanctions. It just looks daft - because it  fails to punish the military or Bainimarama (which presumably is the intention), whilst also failing to allow for the international sporting events for which the sanction exception was specifically included.

Unfortunately, it is NZ Football and NZ football fans are the ones paying for these flaws and for flawed decision-making. NZ football is out of pocket, NZ football fans (who are many if I need to remind you it is the country's highest participation sport) are denied the chance to see their heroes and the All Whites face the prospect of having to play this match in stifling heat and humidity on a bumpy pitch somewhere else in the Pacific (if they dont have the points taken off them altogether). If the All Whites lose the points to Fiji for this game there will be a lot of very grumpy football fans.

There are two key problems the Government has created but has the ability to solve for the football and sports community:

1.) ensure the game that was cancelled as a result of the Government's decision to deny the visa is rescheduled to be played in NZ.

2.) reimburse NZ Football for the financial cost of the Government's intervention.

And rather than looking for differences between this situation and that facing NZ Cricket in relation to Zimbabwe, in order to avoid reimbursement, why not look at the fundamental similarity. The sporting body, in this case NZ Football, is massively out of pocket and financially threatened through absolutely no fault of its own, but as a direct result of a specific Government policy targeted at a specific country. The main difference I can see between these two situations, is that the Zimbabwean policy actually had some cost to Mugabe, whereas this one is resulting in a triumph for Bainimarama.

I look forward to your response and to your best efforts to fix these problems.

Regards

 

I want to hear from the Minister of Everything - Right Honourable (?) Trevor Mallard? He's been very quiet since the Rugby WC started. Perhaps the thought of competing in the same competition as Fiji is keeping him quiet or was it the MP's trip to France & whom played, that is causing him to have a low profile??

Never was a truer word spoken - in the history of sport in NZ never has so little been said by those responsible for gaining so much. One wonders just what is the REAL agenda here or is it just complete ineptitude!!