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| Sunday, 18 July 2004 |
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Thuggery and hooliganism rooted to betting Straight Talk by Lal Gunasekera Thuggery and hooliganism seems to have raised its ugly head again in the local rugby scene. This time it was at the Kotalawela Defence Academy grounds at Ratmalana during a Caltex 'B' Division Inter-Club League game between the Air Force, who were the hosts, and Police, two arms of the law who are supposed to uphold it. It's an utter disgrace to see players and supporters of service outfits fighting with each other. Nine Police players had received injuries after being assaulted and two admitted to hospital - one even requiring seven stitches on his scalp. A complaint too has been lodged at the Mount Lavinia Police Station and inquiries are being conducted. The Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union (SLRFU) stipulates that the host club must look after the safety of the visiting team and match officials. In this instance, it was the Air Force who were the hosts, and should have seen to the safety of the visitors who were the Police. Where were the Air Force officers when this incident occurred and were any attempts made to stop this assault on the visitors by Air Force supporters too? Surely, they can identify the culprits involved and institute action. This type of hooliganism has happened in the past too, and even match officials have not been spared. There was a time that visiting sides from Colombo refused to play at an up-country venue due to stones being thrown at them by spectators. Then last season, the referees were the target. Two international referees, Nizam Jamaldeen and Dilroy Fernando were verbally abused and threatened by non other than service personnel. Referees refused to 'blow' in games where the service teams were concerned. However, sanity prevailed with the SLRFU stepping in and solving the matter. If the host club cannot look after the safety of the visiting team and officials, then the SLRFU must take stern action against them. In sincerely hope that there will not be a repeat occurrence this season or in the future. It has to be nipped in the bud. BETTING !! There are a few reasons why thuggery has crept in. One reason is betting on the outcome of games and another being ignorant of the rules of the game. It's quite strange to see club high-ups and supporters shouting at referees and players from opposing sides from the touch line, even from the VIP seats. This has to be stopped and it's the duty of every club-school to advice and educate their member-students on the laws of the game and behave themselves at matches. I also hope that this sort of hooliganism will not creep into the 'A' Division or schools games. EVEN IN AUSTRALIA Betting is nothing new to sports - even the game of cricket was in the limelight with the Cronje affair and the ICC appointing a former Police Commissioner of London to head its probe committee. Sri Lanka too had Desmond Fernando, an eminent lawyer, inquiring into certain allegations made against two leading Test cricketers whose names transpired, but were found not guilty of any offence. Several Indian and Pakistani players were probed, found guilty and even banned for life. A DISGRACE LANKAN EXPATS Now comes the news from Australia where Sri Lanka toured recently for two back-to-back Tests, that a group of expatriates who attended a dinner organised by another group of expatriates at Cairns had criticised the Lankan cricketers for losing. One Lankan player had told these critics to 'shut up or .......'. It has been revealed that the Lankan expatriates living in Sydney who had come to witness this game had told our players how to bat and what to do. It's all about losing their bets I am told. What a disgrace. WHY NOT CHRIS BROAD? Muttiah Muralitharan, Sri Lanka's world record holder with a haul of 527 wickets had been bowling his 'doosra' for quite a long time before he opened his 'bit gab' and England's Chris Broad, who was the Match Referee during Australia's tour of Sri Lanka earlier this year, reported him to the ICC for an illegal action. Now, India's ace off-spinner Harbhajan Singh - has commented that he will test his 'magic ball' in Sri Lanka during the revived Asia Cup which will be started on Friday. Wouldn't it be nice to have the ICC sending Mr. Broad to Sri Lanka as a Match Referee to see whether Harbhajan's 'magic ball' is legal or not ? On the topic of the controversial Mr. Broad news filtered from down under of yet another incident. He was once again ICC's Match Referee at the Australia vs Sri Lanka series. He had targeted Sri Lanka's new find, paceman Lasith Malinga. Mr. Broad had told Ajith Jayasekera the Sri Lanka manager to caution Malinga 'not to celebrate the fall of a wicket until the umpire has made his decision'. SOCCER'S "BIG MAN" ASSAULTED Coming into soccer, who is the high ranking official of the Football Federation of Sri Lanka (FFSL) who got assaulted at a recent Inter-District Under-18 game between City League and Kalutara when he tried to settle a dispute that had arisen ? Also, why was Anura, coach of Sobhitha Vidyalaya from Rajagirya's Under-17 side, disallowed to follow the FFSL's 'C' Licence coaching programme ? It is understood that the reason was that Anura had not represented the national team. At the Sri Lanka Schools Under-17 Tournament, Sobhitha Vidyalaya reached the final and were coached by Anura, but other teams that were coached by 'B' and 'C' Licence holders fared poorly. So what other qualification does Anura need to follow the "C" Licence course of the FFSL? ELEPHANT MUCH ADMIRED Remember Bob Scott, the Scotsman who was a prominent amateur golfer from up-country during the late Pin Fernando's era ? His wife had commented that the ornamental elephant studded with gems gifted by the Sri Lanka Golf Union (SLGU) represented by Pin's son Priya (Secretary of SLGU) and Shiran de Soysa (a former President of SLGU) to the Reual and Ancient (R & A), the world controlling body for amateur golf, which celebrated its 250th anniversary recently, was very much admired by these present and considered the 'best' gift among all the other Royal Club representatives from round the world who were present at the historic occasion. HIGH PRICED TICKETS Certain schools charge exorbitant rates for rugby matches. One such school charges Rs. 200 to Rs. 300 for an unreserved seat in the pavilion for a spectator, while a club charges only Rs. 100 for a ticket in the pavilion and one is assured of a seat. Why the disparity and shouldn't the school authorities reduce the prices for their matches ? |
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