A dispute between the EP Rugby Union and referees resulted in all club matches being postponed at the weekend.
After announcing the postponement, an angry EPRU president Andre Rademan said referees were not acting in the best interests of rugby and were attempting to hold the union hostage.
In a statement, Rademan said: “At the last annual meeting all clubs agreed on the new format and structures for club rugby and referees were present at the meeting.
“On Friday, the president was informed that referees were not available for the weekend fixtures.
“The president was on holiday in St Francis Bay and on receiving this information immediately returned to Port Elizabeth.
“The president then spent the whole day in consultation with his vice-president Chico Februarie and executive member Shaheed Patel to avert the situation.
“An agreement was reached with the referees that if R30,000 was paid over to the Referees Society they would honour the fixtures.
“The president, with Patel, released the R30,000 payment.
“The president left the EPRU offices at 5pm to return to St Francis Bay and on his arrival home he was informed that the R30,000 was received, but the referees still refused to honour the fixtures.”
Rademan then made the following decisions after he returned to Port Elizabeth:
To postpone all games for March 23, due to referees’ refusal to honour the fixtures;
That the president will not meet the referees on March 25, as per their request, because he does not believe they acted in good faith;
That the referees are trying to keep the union hostage with demands for costs which the EPRU is not actually responsible for.
The statement continues: “This scenario transcribes every year for the past two years with the Grey Festival and the Human Rights long weekend.
“The president tried all efforts to find an amicable solution, but clearly the referees have a different agenda and are not acting in the best interest of rugby.”
In response, EP Rugby Referees Society chair Jacques Hugo said: “I have undertaken not to speak to the media until the matter has been discussed with the exco on Monday.
“The referees do not want to bring the game into disrepute.
“Suffice to say, there is more than one side to a story,” Hugo said...