A decision on who might be taking over Moana Pasifika’s licence should be made by 30 June.
Photo: Photosport
New Zealand Rugby (NZR) is still considering a number of options before it makes a decision on Moana Pasifika’s future in the Super Rugby Pacific competition.
The franchise has wrapped up its operation after backers Pasifika Medical Association (PMA) put the club up for liquidation on 25 May.
Since then, club head coach Fa’alogo Tana Umaga has left to join the All Blacks coaching team, and a number of players are understood to have moved on to other clubs.
Administration staff have also finished off, with several now looking for new jobs.
A NZR spokesman confirmed to RNZ Pacific on Friday a decision on who might be taking over the club’s licence should be made by 30 June.
“There are no updates to share at this stage. A decision is likely to be made by the end of this months and we are considering a range of proposals from interested parties,” the spokesperson said.
“We are not in a position to share more details about those proposals.”
One of the bidders is Hawaii-based Kanaloa Consortium, which has a number of former All Blacks with Pasifika heritage as part of the group.
Kanaloa first tried to get a Super Rugby Pacific license initially in 2020/2021 and also wanted to buy into Moana Pasifika in October 2025.
Although Kanaloa’s chief executive Tracy Atiga said they are still in the dark about what is happening, she and her team are hoping they would be given a chance.
RNZ Pacific understands other options being considered by NZR includes a bid from a multimillion-dollar American tech company and a likely government buy-in plan that involves Samoa and Tonga.
That option is being mooted by New Zealand’s Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters, who had a meeting with Samoan Prime Minister La’aulialemalietoa Leuatea Polataivao Fosi Schmidt and Tongan Prime Minister Lord Fakafanua in Apia last week.
The club reportedly owes NZ$8.2 million in debt, according to a liquidator’s report released by Stephen Robert White and John Howard Ross Fisk of Teneo Financial Advisory.
