Rafaele Kasibulu is the newly-appointed Fiji Rugby Union Chairman

Newly-APPOINTED Fiji Rugby Union chairman Rafaele Kasibulu is hoping for an urgent meeting with Minister of Sports Filipe Bole in a bid to resolve the lottery saga.

Hours after being elected to replace outgoing chairman Bill Gavoka (pictured, right), Kasibulu wrote to Mr Bole seeking an audience in which he hopes to sort out the concerns raised by the Fiji Commerce Commission.

Mr Kasibulu said the meeting should also discuss in detail the demands meted out by the Government which called for the resignation of the board and executive members.

This followed Mr Gavoka's decision to step aside to allow the FRU to engage in dialogue with the State.

Mr Gavoka remains a part of the FRU board.

Mr Kasibulu, however, maintained the decision taken by the commission was swift and they were not provided the chance to reconcile the tickets to fully know its implication.

"We were not given the chance to reconcile the tickets and this will be something I will raise in our discussion with the Government," said Mr Kasibulu last evening. He said having to dismiss the board and executive members as demanded by the minister was a matter that would be discussed by the rugby council at the annual general meeting which was to be held in April.

"We have a process to follow and we will abide by that," said Mr Kasibulu.

He said there was a lot of media hype about the lottery issue but there had never been a formal discussion between the two parties.

He said the $3million offered by Mr Bole to assist the Flying Fijians to the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand would be the prerogative of Government.

"Hopefully our meeting will resolve the matter amicably so that we can focus on preparing the team for the World Cup," He said.

He said the lottery saga would not affect the preparation of the Digicel sevens team for the next leg of the HSBC 2010/2011 World Sevens Series and the Fiji Barbarians tour to Australia.

"Our preparation for the World Cup including the IRB sevens series is all in order and we want to assure the rugby public and the players that nothing will stop us from sending our boys to New Zealand," he said.

Source: Fiji times.