Cologne (SID) – The New Zealand Rugby Professionals (NZRPA) national union is seeking to stop the sale of shares in the “All Blacks” national team employed by the NZR in full force. The NZRPA submitted a counter-proposal to the financially troubled association on Friday to change its mind. At the annual general meeting in April, the NZR voted unanimously in favor of selling 12.5 percent to a US company for $280 million (about 230 million euros).
The NZRPA now sees its offer as a viable option to sell to California-based equity investment company Silver Lake. NZRPA president and former All-Blacks captain David Kirk is not just a financially sound proposition: “You are tasked with doing the best things for NZR and that means looking at all other options.”
According to New Zealand media, the association’s executive director Mark Robinson described the proposal as an act of sabotage. Robinson was “shocked and disappointed”. Kirk rejected it. “We are looking at a situation that could change rugby in New Zealand forever,” said the 60-year-old.
The NZRPA fears that some of the after-sales games of the three-time world champion and the brand most famous in international rugby could be played in the United States. This would mean that the “kiwis”, who honor their homeland with the legendary Haka dance before the Games, would lose part of their identity.
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