Team Fiji men’s rugby sevens forward Viliame Mata got the chance to celebrate his gold medal win with his dad, Sitiveni who arrived into the country on Sunday night.

Proud dad Sitiveni who works for a private oil company in Iraq was not scheduled to be back until his boss found out about the celebration.

“I was supposed to come in September but my boss found out and chased me to Fiji to celebrate with my son,” Sitiveni said at the ANZ Stadium, Suva yesterday.

“What Bill (Viliame) achieved is a first thing for the family and I thank God for that. Being here celebrating with my son is something I cannot explain. Looking at all the people in the ground waving flags, it means a lot. From where I’m working, there are lots of British nationals and they baked a big cake for me for the celebration. So being here makes me very happy.”

Sitiveni said before Mata left for Rio, he encouraged him to give his best.

“That is what he did in Rio. I sent him a long message and I told him that most Fijians did not want him to be in the team and all he has to do in Rio is to prove them wrong. So from the first whistle I told him that if anyone else can make their own history then he can do it too. I urged him to go in and play his heart out since Ben Ryan had faith in him.”

Sitiveni added that he is looking forward to the four weeks he is going to be in country and keep on celebrating the Olympic gold medal win before he returns to Iraq.

Edited by Leone Cabenatabua

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