Director of Fiji National Women's Rugby Axed Following 'Gay Problem' Comments

The newly hired director of the Fiji Rugby Union had barely assumed her duties when she was let go after she declared there was a "gay problem" with the country's women's team.

"The Fiji Rugby Union said in a statement on Wednesday that it had terminated Laijipa Naulivou's appointment as director," the BBC reported. "The move comes as women's rights advocates criticized the 'harmful and discriminatory' comments."

Naulivou said in an interview that she didn't think the team's coach should be the one to decide who to include on the team, making reference to "a person who practices lesbianism being up there and choosing her people."

Said Naulivou, "To me that is unethical and it's not right." She went on to claim that "this gay problem" was a major issue for rugby teams across Europe, and "added that homosexuality was 'one big drawback' when the Fiji women's team participated in a previous HSBC Sevens tournament," the BBC detailed.

The remarks sparked instant pushback, with Fiji Women's Rights Movement putting out a release in which its head, Nalini Singh, took Naulivou to task for her homophobic comments.

"The notion that being gay is a 'problem' in women's rugby is deeply troubling and perpetuates harmful stereotypes that have no place in modern sports or society," Singh stated.

Referencing an infamous incident in which a women's team were left overnight "on benches outside Sydney Airport on their way to the Dubai Sevens in 2023, while the men's team slept in a nearby hotel," as the BBC recalled, Singh went on to outline a suggestion for how to fulfill the responsibilities of the director's role.

"Rather than focusing your efforts on the sexuality of the players, you do your job and look for adequate funding and provide for the well-being of the women rugby players so that they don't have to sleep on benches in front of airports and walk miles to their training," Singh said.