Marked for Epeli Kumar
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad9 Aug 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 60 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Transfer targets9 Aug 2027
The deal with Ba is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
The dugout9 Aug 2027
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Squad9 Aug 2027
A row about effort at Suva
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Remueru Tekiate was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words exchanged at Suva
Epeli Kumar and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad9 Aug 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Josua Raqamu and Suva agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout9 Aug 2027
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Market9 Aug 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Suva, another week without a signature from Faizal Ali.
Market9 Aug 2027
Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Lorima Batirerega Junior leaves Suva the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces2 Aug 2027
The mood at Suva has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Match2 Aug 2027
Suva sink to position 9
18 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Squad2 Aug 2027
A fracture rules Neerav Goundar out for 67 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Suva will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The dugout2 Aug 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Boardroom2 Aug 2027
Pressure builds in the Suva boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Transfer targets2 Aug 2027
The deal with Navua is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
The dugout2 Aug 2027
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Squad2 Aug 2027
Words exchanged at Suva
Akuila Mateisuva and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Remueru Tekiate falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match5 Jul 2027
Every point is an argument now for Suva
Position 9 and 18 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
The terraces5 Jul 2027
Anger at Suva spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Match5 Jul 2027
Full time on the season at Suva
Position 9 on 18 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
Market5 Jul 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Suva, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout5 Jul 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Player ratings5 Jul 2027
Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Transfer targets5 Jul 2027
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Suva have done the hard part with Nadi, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Match3 Jul 2027
4 matches without a win for Suva
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Suva are no longer polite ones.
The dugout5 Jul 2027
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From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match16 Jun 2027
The cup run ends for Suva
0‑2 against Lautoka, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Player ratings21 Jun 2027
Successful dribbles: 29. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2027
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Suva have done the hard part with Nadroga, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad21 Jun 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Suva this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Remueru Tekiate falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
The dugout21 Jun 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad21 Jun 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Rishal Shankar and Suva agree another 3 years.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings14 Jun 2027
Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Nadi keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad14 Jun 2027
A falling-out at Suva
Akuila Mateisuva and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 Jun 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Akuila Baledrokadroka and Suva agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad14 Jun 2027
A row about effort at Suva
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Remueru Tekiate was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market14 Jun 2027
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Misaele Swamy has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Match12 Jun 2027
Three points for Suva, 1‑0 the final word against Lautoka in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Looking ahead14 Jun 2027
Two sides from the bottom of the table, three points, and an afternoon that will be described afterwards as a relegation decider by whoever loses it.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
A loan enquiry to Nadi: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
In brief
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Transfer targets
A loan move for Nickel Prasad is in the works
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
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The dugout
Remueru Tekiate knocks on the manager’s door
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad22 Mar 2027
18 days out for Remueru Tekiate after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Suva will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match20 Mar 2027
No end in sight to Suva's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Suva has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad22 Mar 2027
A falling-out at Suva
Remueru Tekiate and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match20 Mar 2027
Suva come up short against Nadroga
Nadroga left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Ramzan Khan falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad22 Mar 2027
45 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Tito Drudru after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 Mar 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 33 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
Dave Kaumaitotoya could not have asked for more on his first appearance — 7.31
Debuts are survived rather than enjoyed. This one was enjoyed: 7.31, 0 goals, and a manager already being asked whether he starts again next week.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Remueru Tekiate and Suva agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Tempers go at Suva
Remueru Tekiate was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Match6 Mar 2027
Late, late show earns Suva a point
Minute 94, against Nadi, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
Match6 Mar 2027
Suva and Nadi take a point apiece
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Tito Drudru was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Suva dressing room was either.
Boardroom8 Mar 2027
No investment in the facilities at Suva
Nothing about this will be in a press release. A plan went upstairs, came back rejected, and the version of the club that would have existed in three years' time just quietly stopped being possible.
Looking ahead8 Mar 2027
A test against the best for Suva
The team at the top of the table next, and the honest measure of where this side actually is. Anybody can beat the club below them; the question is what happens against Labasa.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad26 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Suva
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Remueru Tekiate was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Epeli Kumar in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Suva this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Suva, and both men came out saying it was fine.