The board of Lakapi Samoa will meet today to decide whether or not to bring the Manu Samoa rugby 7s team home from their training camp in Dubai, and abandon any further involvement in the current World Series.
Samoa are yet to compete in any tournament this season, largely because of their government's strict Covid protocols.
They set up camp in Dubai in January in the hope that they could play during the second half of the campaign, but they didn't feature in Spain because of a COVID outbreak in the squad, and the next tournament in Singapore is two months away.
To add to Lakapi Samoa's woes, a letter has surfaced from the players which accuses team management of bullying and intimidation.
Chief Executive, Vincent Fepuleai, has told Pacific Beat the letter and its contents came as a shock, and a sub-committee has been set up to work with the Pacific Rugby Players Association to get to the bottom of the whole affair.
"It's difficult to really assess what's going on in the team, we're so far away from them," he said.
At this stage the team will remain in camp in Dubai ahead of the Singapore round of the World 7s series in April, but that situation could change after the board has its meeting.
"Our board will decide whether to bring them back, or look at alternative measures to bring them somewhere closer to home," Mr Fepuleai said.
"We have been getting a lot of support from World Rugby, otherwise we couldn't afford to be in Dubai … but it's a difficult situation … and the welfare of the players is our priority, and if bringing them home is the right call, that's the way to go."
Photo Manu Samoa Sevens/Facebook Caption: Manu Samoa Sevens team to the current World Series