New Zealand Rugby CEO Mark Robinson to step down at year’s end

WELLINGTON New Zealand AP New Zealand Rugby chief executive Mark Robinson will step down at the end of the year creating a vacancy in one of the majority powerful jobs in New Zealand sport Robinson led New Zealand s national sport for six years through the demanding period of the pandemic when matches often took place in empty stadiums He also has guided the sport s national governing body through challenging financial times New Zealand Rugby has published substantial deficits in each of the last three years Along with multiple national rugby unions New Zealand has faced increasing costs in retaining top players The almost million New Zealand dollar deficit million posted by NZR in the last financial year came despite record revenues reflecting the increasing difficulty national rugy administrators face in making ends meet Robinson oversaw the deal in which stake company Silver Lake paid more than million dollars million for a share of NZR s commercial revenues The deal at first was opposed by the professional players union but later allowed NZR to financially assistance provincial rugby unions after the pandemic Robinson also was party to the decision to appoint Scott Robertson as All Blacks head coach months before Ian Foster s tenure finished Foster led the All Blacks to the final of the World Cup in which they lost by one point to South Africa Robinson on Monday revealed he s leaving to join his wife and family who have relocated to Australia The past six years have been a period of rapid change or unprecedented challenges through the pandemic and considerable evolution across commercial competitions and structures Robinson disclosed in a comment I will reflect on that as I get closer to stepping away but I firmly believe the foundations of our organization are extremely strong and the meeting is well-placed for the future Robinson succeeded Steve Tew as chief executive in He will leave prior to a reorganization which will see the incoming chief executive take charge of both New Zealand Rugby and New Zealand Rugby Commercial the sporting and commercial parts of the tournament AP rugby https apnews com hub rugby Source