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| Dr. Maiya Gunasekera |
“What the players did by boycotting Sri Lanka’s tour of Dubai amounts to high treason in my opinion,” said Interim Committee Chairman of rugby Dr. Maiya Gunasekera.
Speaking to The Sunday Times, Gunasekera said; “We spent over two million literally feeding, housing, training and clothing these players for a month and in addition we paid for their transport. Just 48 hours before the tournament, they decide to pull out because the Sports Minister exercised his right to change the captain following advice from the highest sports selection body in this country– for want of a better word it is nothing short of sabotage.
The same thing occurred last year and the players concerned were let off with a warning. This year disciplinary action should be taken.”He added; “Thank God we have a large group of players and were able to send a team for the Asian Division One Championship. Had we had to pull out just two days before the tournament for reasons other than for a tsunami or some major natural disaster, we would have been blacklisted. We appointed a new selection body chaired by Ajith Abeyratne and comprising of Daya Jayasundera, Viraj Prasanna and Marco De Silva. Even selectors must realize and accept the fact that the Minister has the final say. However, let me state that had the original team gone we would have smashed Chinese Taipei out of sight. I fully understand and accept the decision taken by George Simpkin. Simpkin even wanted to return the money we had paid him. He is a very good coach and I hope once the AGM (Annual General Meeting) is held, the elected body will re -appoint Simpkin as the coach.”
So where does Sri Lankan rugby go from here? said Gunasekera; “After a discussion with our management committee, we decided to appoint Nalin De Silva to boost rugby in the forces. The guys fight and die for the country and they do not say they cannot fight because their commander is not the person they chose? The players who did not go on this tour knew exactly what they were doing.”
Sports Minister Gamini Lokuge said; “I am just waiting for the team that went to Dubai to come back and for the manager’s report on the players who did not go. Last year I gave the players who withdrew at the eleventh hour a chance by letting them off with a warning. This year as soon as I get the report I will suspend them pending a full disciplinary inquiry.”
The situation on the schools scene is not much better with the Sri Lanka Schools Rugby Football Association (SLSRFA) opting to scrap the league and play friendly matches following an Enjoining Order taken by St, Anthony’s Kandy against their demotion.
Coach of St. Peter’s Sanath Martis said; “First let me take you back a bit. The SLSRFA was taken under the Ministry of Education by Sunil Jayaweera back in 1992. He then wanted the Master’s in charge of sports in schools to form the association. From 1992 up to 2003 the league tournament was run in eleven different ways. In 2003, I was the coach of Isipatana and Dilroy Fernando was the chairman of the rugby committee of the same school. Fernando was the one who came up with the present tier system for the league. The fact is at that time the tier system was disadvantageous for us and I pointed this out to Fernando who said it did not matter and that there had to be a proper system for the league.“We do not need an association to tell us to play friendly matches. Schools have spent millions and players have been training from October last year. Think how disillusioned the schoolboys will be because the competitive edge is taken off when a tournament match becomes a friendly. Even today you have players who say they were part of the championship side last year or the year before which obviously will not be the case for the players this year. In the present scenario we have everybody losing out not only the players but also the old boys, parents, television stations, media and everybody in between is affected when the competitive edge is taken off.”
Meanwhile association sources said the unofficial top eight schools would be selected for the knockout tournament. They defended the decision of making only friendly matches this year by pointing out that it was playing for an ‘aluminum cup’ that disciplinary issues arose .
The match between Isipatana and St. Peter’s will be played on April 24 as April 25 is the Western Province elections. The Royal – Thomian which was also scheduled to be played on April 25 is likely to be changed to April 24.
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