The management staff of the Samoa women's sevens team have been stood down until the end of April because the rugby union cannot afford to employ them on a full-time basis.
The Manusina 7s will compete in the Final Olympic Qualification Tournament in June, with the winner advancing to the main draw in Tokyo.
But Samoa Rugby Union High Performance Unit General Manager, Seumanu Douglas Ngau Chun, said because the team only plays in tournament per year the staff are only employed on a part-time basis.
"We have about six to eight weeks of preparations and then two weeks of tournaments, so normally we call them in around that time and from there they will start preparing their team.
"Once the campaign ends that's it for them as well."
The Manusina 7s have not competed in an international tournament since the 2019 Oceania Sevens Championship, with last year's edition cancelled because of Covid-19.
Seumanu said three members of management staff will now step back following the postponement of the Oceania Women's Rugby World Cup repechage tournament.
But they will resume their roles next month in the lead-up to the Olympic qualifier in Monaco.
"They're only given certain days outside of the campaign for Manusina," he said.
"So, for instance, out of a month they're given five days of a month - those are the working days for them - so they can claim those days.
"They can also do three day camps...but in terms of being full-time the Samoa Rugby Union is not in a position to do that since they only appeared once in the calendar year."