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Interference worries Hoskins
27/02/2008 22:55 - (SA)
Liam del Carme, Beeld
Johannesburg - The more he studies the contents of the Sport Act, the more concerned SA Rugby president Oregan Hoskins becomes.
The Act empowers the minister of sport to intervene in the business of individual sports codes if he deems it necessary.
Hoskins believes it is only a matter of time before rugby finds itself in the minister's sight.
"The more I read the Sport Act, the more it worries me because it's now easy for the minister and the (parliamentary) sports portfolio committee to intervene," Hoskins said on Wednesday.
"If they feel a sport is not managed correctly, the new Act gives them the right to intervene."
The possible consequences of the new Act has already been brought to the notice of the International Rugby Board.
The IRB's legal adviser will explain their standpoint in a letter to Afriforum, which brought the nature of the new Act to the attention of the board.
Hoskins added that the IRB's regulations were clear, in that there may be no discrimination in the selection of teams. However, there were no clear guidelines about interference by governments.
"The IRB have been told that South Africans may turn to the Appeals Court if they feel it is necessary, even though the new Act already applies," Hoskins said.
He would like to co-operate with the government to provide rugby with a wider profile, but the approximately R140 000 that SA Rugby received from the government annually was not enough for this task, Hoskins said.
"How do you promote mass participation with that? How will transformation be enforced? There will be certain consequences. We all have to cooperate to promote transformation."
Hoskins, who attended an IRB meeting in New Zealand last week, will now concentrate on the election of SA Rugby's president on March 28.
He intends visiting the provincial unions as part of his campaign to defeat the other candidate, SA Rugby's deputy president, Mike Stofile.
"I hope I'll be given the opportunity to set out my vision," Hoskins said.
"I feel more and more positive about my chances in the elections, especially because my opponent regularly says things that count in my favour.
"Why the appointment of John Smit as Springbok captain under the new coach, Peter de Villiers, has caused unhappiness, no one knows."
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Rugby
