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| Sunday, 5 January 2003 |
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Lucrative financial packages for rugby players on national duty by LAL GUNESEKERA The Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union (SLRFU) will sign contracts with players who are selected for the national sides with lucrative financial packages starting from this year in similar fashion to that of the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka (BCCSL) so that they will not be able to pull out at the last moment. This came about after certain players made themselves unavailable due to various reasons when selected for the Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England in July-August, Asian Games in South Korea and Asian Championship in Thailand last year. The President of the SLRFU Commodore Harsha Mayadunne, told the Sunday Observer that players should put the country first before self or club they represent and signing of contracts may help to put an end to this type of behaviour. He further disclosed that a Sri Lankan women's rugby side, too, may play at the Hong Kong 7s in March if they are invited and sponsored by the organisers. The Sri Lanka men's team, too, is to participate in this tournament. Last year (2002), Sri Lanka lost to New Zealand 0-51, Scotland 13-19, Portugal 0-33 and to Morocco 5-14 in the Bowl category. Sri Lanka will again play in the Dubai 7s sponsored by Aggreko later on in the year. Last year, they lost to Samoa 5-57, New Zealand 0-66 and France 12-19 before losing the consolation games to Canada 7-22 and Namibia 12-35. The Sri Lanka 7s for the General Denzil Kobbekaduwa Memorial Trophy is to be staged at Longden Place on January 18 and 19 and a pool is to be picked by the selectors for the Hong Kong 7s soon afterwards. The selectors will also pick a pool within the next couple of weeks to undergo training for the IRB/ARFU Asian Regional Quadrangular where Sri Lanka will be pitted against Japan, Arabian Gulf and Hong Kong between March 29 and July 19. Commodore Mayadunne said that they (the SLRFU) are negotiating to play the Japan and Arabian Gulf games in Colombo and are confident that they will agree as they have shown willingness to play in Colombo. The game with Hong Kong will be played away. The IRB has decided to reimburse the SLRFU with Rs. 2 million spent on Phase I of the construction of its new headquarters at the former Race Course, and the IRB have even agreed to meet expenses for Phase II which is to start soon. The SLRFU are also awaiting the Rs. 5 million promised by the Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Johnston Fernando in February last year (2002). Commodore Mayadunne also said that the clubs have been granted permission to field two foreigners each for the League and knock-out tournaments this season and that these players will have to be registered with the SLRFU two weeks prior to the tournament. He further said that the services and Police had made a protest regarding this proposal but the Council of the SLRFU made the final decision. Earlier, Army, Air Force and Police had fielded foreigners in their sides. |
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