15 Jul 2011

Mixed messages over Fijian player

6:06 pm on 15 July 2011

The Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs are giving mixed messages about whether a Fijian rugby player, who is also in the army, will be allowed into New Zealand to play.

Fijian army private Leone Nakarawa is in the 35-man squad named to play New Zealand and Tonga.

But the Fijian Union says it will not include him in the final 22 to fly to Dunedin to play the All Blacks because that was part of the negotiations to allow the team an exemption from the general sporting ban on Fiji.

John Key says there's nothing stopping Nakarawa, who is 23, from playing because he is a low- ranked soldier.

But Foreign Minister Murray McCully says the visa ban applies to all members of the Fijian military.