Team Fiji chef de mission Cathy Wong reiterated the importance of protecting our players from exploitation.

Her warning came after the Team Fiji men’s rugby sevens side scooped the country’s first ever gold medal at the Olympic Games.

“Obviously at this stage there will be a lot of agents out there that will try to hunt our players and credit to Ben (Ryan) and his management team for they are able to contain that and manage it very well,” she said.

“They are managing the press and my job as chef de mission is to make sure the players have a wonderful Olympic experience.That’s what we are doing right now. The players are going out to watch other sports like athletics, boxing and beach volleyball.

“As an athlete, the gold medal win will open the doorway to bigger and better things. Now as management our role is to ensure we guide them through the process and make sure that they are not exploited.”

She indicated the win has also opened up markets for other sporting federation. As well the respective team managers are now meeting with interested sponsors as they look ahead to the 2020 Olympic preparation.

“Ben has taken rugby to another new level. Now it has opened up the network for other sports, they have opened the pathway for the whole world to see where Fiji is. Now everyone is looking for Fiji in the map after the sevens event,” she said.

“Questions, where to from here? Well we are building up for 2020, we should  start looking at it now, we can’t wait for 2019. Preparation has started now,  team leaders are meeting with sponsors and are really building up their network.”

Wong added that they are also grateful to Government for leading the way in supporting  the team.

 Edited by Leone Cabenatabua

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