Ball in his court: Offer on table for Welsh Olympic mastermind

Gareth Baber, who led Fiji to the defence of their Olympic Games sevens gold medal in Japan, has been offered a new three year deal to take the team to the Paris Games in 2024.

However, Fiji Union chief executive officer John O’Connor said that while the board had endorsed the Welshman’s contract to be extended the final decision would be Baber’s.

“The FRU board has endorsed an extension of Gareth’s contract to continue as the head coach for the men’s 7s team to the next Olympics,” O’Connor told FijiTimes.

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“Discussions had been ongoing with Gareth and he is waiting for the vaccination program to reach the 80 per cent threshold so that the international borders reopen. He does not want to be subjected to the mandatory 14-day quarantine period that is in place by the health authorities.

“At the moment, there hasn’t been any concrete occurrences that Gareth has accepted the offer because when he comes over, we intend to talanoa, negotiate and hopefully finalise his contract.

“We will await Gareth’s return first, discuss his report and intentions before working on from there.

“Once a confirmed decision is made than we will offer an official public announcement regarding the appointment of the national men’s sevens head coach.

“The final decision will be made by Gareth if he wishes to continue or otherwise, but the FRU board has endorsed an extension to his contract till the 2024 Paris Olympics.”