Fijians told to ‘lay off’ the Kava

Fiji’s national team will be placed under curfew, will only be allowed limited contact with friends and family and face restrictions on the consumption of the intoxicant Kava during their World Cup campaign in France, team management said on Wednesday.

Players’ use of Kava, or yaqona, a peppery beverage brewed from a root of the plant piper methysticum, will be restricted to traditional ceremonies, Fiji High Performance Unit manager Peter Murphy told the Fiji Times.

Consumption of alcohol will also be closely controlled and players will not be allowed to mix with family and friends at the team hotel to ensure they remained focused on the tournament, he said.

“The only time players will get to mingle and meet with family will be during the specified time at the family centre,” Murphy told the newspaper.

“There will be no skipping camps by players to go out and meet family and friends.”

Fiji players would live under curfew around matches and their social activities will be restricted, Murphy said.

“They only can drink Kava during official sevusevu functions,” he said.

“All this will dictated by the team manager. When traditional activities take place we will have the 45-member contingent present.

“If there is an after match function we can let the players have a few beers. Otherwise, when we have a team day out we could have a few beers but that will be it.

“We need to look at the recovery issues to ensure the maximum performance by players.”