Government and IRB at loggerheads over World Cup revenues

A tug-of-war with millions of dollars at stake has strained relations between the Government and the International Rugby Board over the Rugby World Cup.

The "tensions" that RWC ministers Murray McCully and Gerry Brownlee have with the IRB were revealed in documents released under the Official Information Act yesterday.

The issue is simple: the Government is trying to stem multimillion-dollar losses while the IRB is trying to maximise multimillion-dollar profits.

The documents show this tension was a factor behind the Government not wanting to allow $3 million of public money to be spent on the Maori Television bid for the free-to-air television rights "because it did not want further funds going to the IRB".

A letter by Minister of Maori Affairs Pita Sharples shows he better understood the National Government's concerns with the Maori Television bid once he was told of "the tensions between World Cup ministers and the IRB about the Government getting an appropriate return for the funding it has contributed to host the 2011 RWC".

Another flashpoint between the Government and IRB has been over whether the silver fern will be added to the uniform for the volunteer programme.

Mr McCully is insisting the silver fern be added to help promote New Zealand, but the IRB is resisting because of the fern's strong association with the All Blacks. The volunteer programme is in disarray with the issue still unresolved.

The Government is investing $300 million in the tournament and Mr McCully said through a spokesman that his priority was ensuring taxpayers got value for money.

The taxpayer will bear the brunt of the costs of organising the tournament, with the expected losses blowing out to $39.3 million

Ticket sales are the only way the Government and NZ Rugby Union can make money to offset the losses.