10 Nov 2011

Samoa rugby chiefs meet tonight amid queries over spending

2:53 pm on 10 November 2011

The Samoa Rugby Union Board will meet this evening amid pressure for it to explain how the money raised for the country's World Cup campaign was spent.

Manu Samoa players were paid an allowance of NZ$1000 per week during the World Cup, two-thirds of the NZ$1500 per week received by Tonga's and Fiji's players.

This was despite local and international fundraising efforts which aimed to raise several millions of dollars.

In his captain's report on the tournament, Mahonri Schwalger, says the team never saw or was told how the donations from fundraising events had been allocated.

The chief executive of the Samoa Rugby Union, Su'a Peter Schuster, says an audit on the team's spending during the World Cup should be completed in about two weeks.