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De Villiers's contract in doubt
12/03/2008 12:46 - (SA)
Johannesburg - The unresolved contract issue between the appointed Springbok rugby coach Peter de Villiers and the SA Rugby Union (Saru) has erupted again - and remains unresolved.
This time a constitutional matter lies at the heart of the matter. Saru have, after two months of negotiations and when De Villiers was on the point of signing the contract, found it was unconstitutional to give the coach the final say in team selections.
With that goes the insistence by Saru that De Villiers will be bound by performance clauses, although he won't have the final say in the selection of the sides he has to coach. Oberholzer confirmed De Villiers was ready to sign the contract on Monday.
However, an e-mail from Andy Marinos, general manager of national teams at Saru and the person designated to talk with De Villiers' agents, made him back off, according to Oberholzer.
"Peter did not apply for the job because he wanted to be the Springbok coach. He did so to be a successful Springbok coach - and he wants to be accountable for his sides, not those selected by others," his agent Rian Oberholzer said on Wednesday.
Constitution
The Saru e-mail stated while they (Saru) had initially agreed to the terms of the contract which had been negotiated after more than two months since De Villiers' appointment, Saru have now found De Villiers' request to have the final say in the selection is unconstitutional.
The implication is the constitution will have to be changed in order to accommodate De Villiers' request - and that is a lengthy process indeed.
Oberholzer queried why the "constitutional issue" was not raised in January after De Villiers was first appointed and contract negotiations started.
He also pointed out that the selection in which the coach does not have the final say did not apply to De Villiers' predecessors - Jake White, Rudolf Straeuli, Harry Viljoen, Nick Mallett or Andre Markgraaff.
"We all know that Peter was not the first choice of (Saru president) Oregan Hoskins and (SA Rugby MD) Jonathan Stones," Oberholzer said, and queried whether Saru want to make it so unpleasant that De Villiers walks out.
Oberholzer said De Villiers would certainly not accept a contract in which he does not have the final say on team selections. "How can you expect him to coach a team he did not select?
To a question whether there was a possibility that De Villiers would walk away from the contract, Oberholzer said: "I'm his agent. That is Peter's decision."
- SAPA
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