Axing decision shocks sevens coach
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Manu Samoa sevens head coach Muliagatele Brian Lima says he was 'shocked' and 'disappointed' by the decision to prematurely end his contract.
Lakapi Samoa Chief Executive Officer Falemavaega Vincent Fepulea'i confirmed the decision to terminate the contract of Muliagatele and the sevens management team to the Samoa Observer on Saturday.
In response to queries from the Samoa Observer on Saturday, Muliagatele revealed that the termination letters were served to them on the day they traveled to the Olympic Games.
"I'm shocked and disappointed," Muliagatele said. He said the letter they received noted that the board decided following a meeting on June 12.
"There was no decision to terminate our contracts during that meeting on June 12," he added.
While it was hard for Muliagatele to accept the decision, he stood his ground saying he gave it his all for the team and to serve Samoa.
"I gave it all for this team, to lift the standard and our country. We hope we achieved what we wanted and had asked for for the betterment of the team. But we did our best."
Faleomavaega confirmed that they will not rush into advertising for a new coach and management as there is currently no campaign for the team to work on. However, it will surely be before the Oceania 7s tournament in November.
The initial contracts for the head coach and management were supposed to be completed in November of this year.
The performance of Manu Samoa sevens spiraled downwards from the start of last season's World Sevens Series. The team finished in second last position.
This led the team to play in the promotion-relegation tournament at the Madrid 7s in Spain. Samoa lost all their matches in Madrid and lost their status as a core team for the Sevens Series.
Muliagatele in a social media interview has claimed that four players deliberately sabotaged the tournament for the team as they were playing to lose. He has not named the players.
To return to the core status of the Sevens Series, Samoa now has to finish as the top non-core team in the Oceania 7s Championship in November. This will allow them to be part of the Challenger Series. They will need to have a top-four finish in the Challenger Series to get the opportunity to play for promotion in the last tournament of next season's World Sevens Series.
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