The Western Province Rugby Football Union has stated it will ‘not become involved in a war of words’ after Raymond van Niekerk resigned as a member of the board.

In a statement released on Thursday, the WPRFU all but confirmed confirmed Raymond van Niekerk’s resignation as a member of the board.

‘We received the resignation of Mr Raymond van Niekerk as a member of the board and take note of the subsequent comments and claims he made in a media interview,’ read the statement.

‘We want to thank Mr Van Niekerk for the contribution he made during his time as an independent director. Our mission, as mandated by the electorate [our clubs, schools, referees and associate bodies], are to manage WP Rugby wisely and responsibly and to restore the union to good financial standing.

‘We do not want to become involved in a war of words with Mr Van Niekerk and he is entitled to his opinion. We need to state unequivocally though that his claim that we have parted with logic is far-fetched. Logic is indeed the reason why we are not rushing into any deal with a potential investor or sponsor.

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‘A Non-Disclosure Agreement prohibits us from sharing any information regarding the negotiations with MVM Holdings publicly. We are, however, still in confidential negotiations with MVM Holdings Shell Company. WP Rugby provided MVM with the minimum terms and is awaiting feedback from them.

‘We will continue to keep all our shareholders – including our professional players – informed as to the negotiations progress. We had fruitful meetings with our players, and they have distanced themselves from the media reports about their purported unhappiness over the past few days.

‘WP Rugby will not be deterred by negative comments from people who have hidden agendas and ulterior motives and the leadership will continue to try and reach the best agreement for the union.

‘Our focus now will be on finding a replacement for Mr Van Niekerk – somebody who has integrity, love and passion for the game of rugby, who would not walk away when things are not going his way in the boardroom, somebody who is prepared to use well-informed arguments to win his battles in the boardroom and not in the media, and lastly somebody who has the interest of the shareholder at heart and not only that of an investor.’

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