Patel Vows to Take Ba Rugby Union to New Heights

Business leader Daksesh Patel has vowed to take Ba Rugby Union to new heights over the next three years.

Mr Patel, son of the late and prominent Vinod Patel, is not new to leadership.

He is a director at Vinod Patel Group, Fiji Airways, and chairman of Fiji National Provident Fund, and Vodafone Papua New Guinea.

He was elected president of Ba Rugby Union during the union’s annual general meeting 2023 at the Ba Town Council hall last weekend.

Nominated by Sorokoba and Sasa Rugby Club, his presidential appointment was unopposed.

Moral support

“Despite me not living here permanently, they still felt it was important to take on the leadership role to give them moral support,” said Mr Patel.

He longed to return to his roots to contribute to its development.

Mr Patel was born in Ba.

Ba will win

Following in his father’s footsteps, Mr Patel remains an ardent supporter of Ba Football, and now rugby.

“For me this is a rare privilege to serve the community,” he said.

“Sporting activities bring people together but we need to provide support wherever it’s required.

“Ba will win as a community.

“It’s more important for us to go forward; of course, we always must learn from our past mistakes.

“The reality is we can only make a difference if we do the right thing from hereon.”

Good governance

Mr Patel said good governance brought about a good level of transparency and ensured that everyone had a say in decision making, through a formal process.

The union was an an inclusive organisation, he said.

“We would like to make Ba more inclusive, we would like to be more transparent, and we want to make it more dynamic, because sport does evolve with new rules and with new techniques and new technology,” he said.

“We must be ready to change with the times.

“Ba rugby needs to understand and commit too.”

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