Tonga’s local rugby league clubs will elect a new Chair and Finance Director for a new Rugby League Board on Friday, 15 May.

The Speaker of Parliament, Lord Fakafanua, and a current MP and former Deputy Prime Minister, Semisi Sika, are candidates for the chairmanship according to the International Rugby League [2] (IRL).

Semisi Sika was the former Tonga National Rugby League president.

For the role of Finance Director, local businessmen John Paul Chapman and Ipolito Lasalo are candidates. Both have held prominent directorships in the public and private sector.

Last week, Sika Manu and Will Hopoate were nominated as board members.

IRL Global Operations Manager Danny Kazandjian said it was pleasing to see further signs of collaboration from the dozens of clubs in the kingdom.

“We understand that the active Tongan rugby league community has been working closely with one another to create an organisation that will best represent it, at home and internationally.”

He said an implementation committee had worked to bring together the various elements of the Tongan rugby league community. The committee will help facilitate an application by an organisation for IRL membership in due course.

IC member Ikani Taliai is expected to attend the meeting on Friday to monitor proceedings.

Once the IRL receives an application, they will assess it against their membership rules and decide whether to admit a Tongan member.

“We appreciate the supportive correspondence from the Tongan government, which has committed to working closely with the IRL to restore Tonga to the international rugby league community,” said Mr Kazandjian.

IC committee member, Konrad Hurrell, welcomed the latest developments.

“It is so encouraging to see the quality and the experience of the candidates for the new board.”

“This process has been a fantastic opportunity for the whole Tongan rugby league community to have their say, elect a new and really talented board who will lead the whole of a united Tongan rugby league forward.”

The previous governing body, Tonga National Rugby League (TNRL) was expelled from the IRL membership earlier this year, following its suspension last October after a dispute with Mate Ma’a Tonga players, when Coach Kristian Woolf was let go.

The players and coach have since maintained that new governance reform in Tonga is needed.