THE Hong Kong Rugby Football Union will ask for a multi-million dollar compensation from Rugby World Cup Ltd (RWC) for losing the 1997 Hong Kong Sevens tournament.
Compensation in the region of 'eight figures' will be discussed between the HKRFU and the board of directors of RWC, at next week's crucial meeting in Hong Kong where planning for the second World Cup Sevens will begin.
Due to the Rugby World Cup Sevens, to be held in March 1997, the Hong Kong Sevens will not be staged that year. And as the Hong Kong Sevens is the local Union's major source of income, a sum in the region of HK$10 million will be asked as compensation from RWC Ltd.
Chief executive officer of the HKRFU, Dave Roberts revealed that both parties will have to hammer out a profit sharing agreement and that this will be top of the agenda.
'It is not so much as if we will be asking them to pay up-front, but we will be asking for a guarantee from Rugby World Cup Ltd. There will have to be some sort of profit-sharing deal and this will be one of the major points of discussion,' said Roberts.
Stewart Leckie, HKRFU chairman, added: 'Rugby World Cup Ltd will not try to make money at the expense of the host nation. At any RWC event, the host nation will not lose out and in this case too we have been given a guarantee.' It is known that the HKRFU will base their figures on the profits made at this year's Hong Kong Sevens plus inflation.
According to Roberts, the final profit figures for this year's Hong Kong Sevens is estimated to be well over $6 million.