Fijian star to shun lucrative overseas contract offers

Olympics rugby sevens gold medalist Iosefo Masi has turned down lucrative offers to take his talents overseas and has insisted he wants to continue to play for Fiji.

The 23-year-old told Fiji Times he received many overseas offers after the gold medal win in Tokyo but wanted to continue to play for his country and is in the final year Bachelor of Science in Fisheries student at the FNU’s College of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (CAFF).

Masi said: “I plan to further my studies and continue to play for Fiji. Right now I can’t wait to go back home to Taveuni and see my parents. I cannot stop thinking about them as it breaks my heart being away from them. I can't wait for the borders to be open.”

Masi, like the rest of the gold medal winning squad has been forced to be away from his family for nearly six months due to the restrictions caused by the pandemic. He attended Holy Cross College in Wairiki, Taveuni before he joined Suva Grammar School in 2016 with his love of rugby taking him finally to Nasinu Secondary School.

“To further develop my skills in the sport, I moved from Taveuni to Suva, where I attended Suva Grammar School. I had the opportunity to play for the U18 team in the 2016 Deans competition:” he explained.

“Later I was part of the Tabadamu team before I was selected to represent Fiji at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.”

Masi said he learnt a lot from the experienced players who had played in the HSBC Sevens series.“One thing they taught me was humility, be humble and always listen to instructions given by the management.”

The squad are still being impacted by the pandemic travel restrictions with Olympics gold medallist Sireli Maqala  being kept at a quarantine facility in Labasa.

Health officials picked Maqala from the Waiqele Airport on Saturday when he arrived from Nadi, following his participation at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

“We have been advised by the doctors that the quarantine is necessary because my son travelled from Nadi to Nausori which is a red zone area,” his father Sisa Ramuadrau said.

“He is expected to be released later this week but that will depend on the tests conducted.”