Caye Caulker Crocodiles Clash with Rugby Union

A simmering dispute in Belize’s rugby community has boiled over tonight, after the Caye Caulker Crocodiles Rugby Club was suddenly suspended by the Rugby Football Union of Belize. The fallout began when the Union ordered the team to take down social‑media posts featuring the Rugby Belize logo, branding the RFUB says was used without permission. But the Crocodiles pushed back, arguing Rugby Belize is a registered private company and a legitimate sponsor. That standoff quickly escalated into a full suspension from all rugby activities in the country. Today, Rugby Belize owner Tony Gillings told News Five he’s disappointed in the Union’s move, warning that decisions like this are driving the sport backward at a time when it desperately needs support, not division.

 

On the Phone: Tony Gillings, Owner, Rugby Belize

“The rugby governing body, they have gotten all twisted up because I’m using the logo of my company, which is Rugby Belize, who are one of the main sponsors of the Caye Caulker Crocodiles Rugby Club. Previously Rugby Belize was the founding body for rugby in this country. It’s the thing I started ten years ago. And I then, after ten years of running rugby, I registered that logo as a private business. And when I left the governing body, I took that logo and the business with me and set up the company. So the idea was that I would then sponsor a rugby club, and that’s exactly what I’m doing. But the rugby governing body, which is run by a group of people based in San Ignacio, don’t like that. And they tried to tell us that I can’t use my logo even though I’m a sponsor. And I’ve told them over and over again that I’m not a governing body, I’m just a sponsor, and they just don’t seem to understand. So we are basically just going to ignore them and carry on doing what we have been doing. If there was a number of rugby clubs in Belize, then essentially they could stop us participating in those tournaments. But there are no rugby clubs in Belize. There’s just one based in San Ignacio and they’ve never had a tournament, so I don’t really know what they can stop us doing. I think they’re trying to flex muscles they don’t have, because they have no authority to stop a club seeking sponsors. They have no authority to tell a club you can’t use sponsors logos. And there’s no tournament, which is why we are gonna go ahead. We are gonna have a beach rugby tournament in Caye Caulker. And there’s nothing they can do to stop us.”

 

To register as a rugby club in Belize, each club must adhere to the constitution of the rugby governing body. This constitution states that any rugby club that joins them has to recognize the supremacy of the governing body as the national governing body, which Gilling claims he has never denied or acted against.

 

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.

 

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