Tongan rugby league fans to stage another protest

  • 27/11/2017
Tongan fan's to stage another protest
Tongan fans at the match against England. Photo credit: Getty.

Another protest has been planned, as Tongan rugby league fans contest their controversial semi-final loss to England at the World Cup.

Monday's protest will be the third in as many days, since the side's 20-18 defeat on Saturday night. 

A strong turnout is expected outside the Grand Mercure Hotel in downtown Auckland on Monday evening, with protest organiser John Uele drawing a hearty response to his original Facebook post.

"We've been asked to bring signs to stress out our concerns towards the win we were robbed of," Mr Uele wrote. "Anything you read until the march please disregard because they are tactics to throw us off track.

"And please, the cause is a protest, not a celebration. We have to make sure they take our demands seriously."

Mate Ma'a Tonga, who are currently staying at the hotel, were denied a match-winning try in the game's final play, when Australian referee Matt Cecchin ruled a knock-on, without consulting a video replay.

The moment drew widespread criticism from Tongan supporters, who had packed out Mt Smart Stadium for the best-attended game there in 22 years.

In his Facebook post, Mr Uele claims there are half a dozen Tongan lawyers working free of charge to have the game's final play reviewed and overturned, gifting victory to the Pacific Island nation.

Newshub has contacted prominent Tongan lawyer Nalesoni Tupou for comment, while Semisi Sika, a Tongan government official and chairman of the country's league committee, has apparently given his blessing to the legal action.

Pan-Pacific non-governmental organisation Waiata Trust is encouraging the protest, saying the demonstration is necessary to fight the racism of Rugby League World Cup organisers.

"This [protest] demonstrates the solidarity being built up amongst all Pacific Islanders in how the RLWC and NRL treat our communities," it said, in a press release.

"It seems the RLWC organisers, managed by NRL, did not want Tonga to reach the finals."

Newshub.