Handsome sponsorship deal of Rs. 4 million ‘lost’ due to dispute

Shamseer JALEEL reporting from Kandy

RUGBY: Dispute regarding a player in 2008 from Isipathana College had ultimately resulted the Schools Under 20 Rugby League for 2009 being scrapped and the first time sponsors Y FM, had a nightmare start towards the oval shaped ball game. With the above tournament not being able to kick off, Sri Lanka Schools Rugby Association (SLSRFA) has missed a handsome sponsorship of Rs. 4 million.

Though St. Anthony’s Katugastota has written more than four letters to the SLSRFA they were silent at all the times which resulted in the Katugastota School going to Courts at the last moment before the tournament was kicked off.

With the big boss (Punyadasa - Principal Isipathana College) out of the island a Special General Meeting (SGM) will take place today in Colombo to iron out the issue. The final decision will be taken tomorrow.

If nothing comes through in today’s SGM then the Schools League Under 20 will be conducted in a friendly encounters with the original eight teams in each segment. But once again this virus is likely to be effected the next year season too, in seeding the teams. Most of the rugby followers awaited the schools season which is being interrupted is no new agenda for rugby in Sri Lanka.

St. Anthony’s and Dharmaraja, protested to SLSRFA for letting Isipathana field an ineligible player last season.

However, Isipathana officials claimed they obtained documents from the Ministry of Education allowing the said player to take part in the tournament.

After protests made by Dharmaraja and St. Anthony’s, the player involved was barred from the tournament. SLSRFA had decided to award the four points allocated for that game to Dharmaraja.

As per rules and regulations, all the points earned and lost should be deducted in case a team fields a player who is not eligible to be in the team. In this case the correct measure should have been that all points earned and lost by Isipathana should be removed. In this case Isipathana should have been placed 9th in the league which would have resulted in them getting relegated along with Vidyartha and Dharmaraja.

However, last week the Colombo District Court issued an ex-parte Enjoining Order preventing the SLSRFA, its officers and members from acting on the purported decision of the SLSRFA to demote St. Anthony’s College, Katugastota to Group I Segment `B’ in the School League Rugby Tournament - 2009 season and/or from taking any steps in any way or manner preventing St. Anthony’s College, Katugastota from playing in the Schools League Tournament 2009 in Group I Segment `A’ till the final determination of the application for an Interim Injunction.

Chairman of Antonian Rugby Trust Fund Murshid Mahroof speaking to the Sunday Observer said that: “We have written letters to the Schools Section on 18 January, 5 February, 22 February, 25 February, 23 March and we were compelled to go to Courts since none of these letters were replied. He ended by saying that they took the correct decision they did not want the Courts to stop Isipathana from playing rugby. They only wanted the SLSRFA to take the correct decision before the season kicks off.

He also questioned about the two leading schools in Colombo who went against Isipathana in 2006 from stopping them from playing rugby in that year.