WPRFU president Zelt Marais wanted to charge potential American investor Marco Masotti for a tour of Cape Town Stadium.
CAPE TOWN STADIUM TO BE WP RUGBY’S NEW HOME
The Cape Town Stadium, built to host matches at the 2010 Soccer World Cup, will be WP Rugby’s new home from 2021 onwards after the union finally makes the move from Newlands.
SA-born Masotti, who is the head of MVM Holdings which at one point expressed an interest in purchasing a controlling share in the business arm of WP Rugby, was recently back in the country.
During his visit in November he expressed an interest in seeing the stadium first-hand.
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According to Sunday’s Rapport newspaper, four sources confirmed that WP Rugby asked to be paid $10 000 (just over R150 000 at today’s exchange rate) to take their potential investor to view the stadium.
In an email, Marais is said to have mentioned that ‘95%’ of that sum would be used for rugby development.
It’s unclear where the other 5% – or R7 500 – would’ve gone …
PROPOSED INVESTMENT DEAL UNLIKELY TO PROCEED
Not surprisingly, Masotti reportedly refused to pay the amount and reminded Marais that the stadium in fact belongs to the Cape Town metro – and not WP Rugby.
The Rapport article went on to add that the proposed $6 million investment deal is unlikely to go ahead as there has been no communication between MVM Holdings and WP Rugby since Masotti returned to the USA two weeks ago.
WP Rugby has reportedly refused to give MVM Holdings a controlling share in the business wing and would not disclose its financial affairs to Masotti.
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