Sri Lanka may have been banned

if we boycotted Dubai - Pavitha Fernando

Jatila KARAWITA

RUGBY: Sri Lanka rugby captain Pavithra Fernando meeting the local press for the first-time since his team’s recent tour of Dubai for the HSBC Asian Five Nations Division 1 Qualifier was of the view that if Sri Lanka had not fielded a team for the championship, the country would have been relegated to the bottom tier or even being `slapped’ with a ban by the game’s world ruling body the International Rugby Board (IRB).

“If the IRB had banned us, it would have certainly taken us more than five-years to get to the current position we are in the IRB world rankings”, he told reporters at CR & FC last Thursday (April 23).

“However, thanks to the intervention of Minister of Sports Gamini Lokuge, Sri Lanka managed to send a team to Dubai at the 11th hour and save our faces from a tournament, which we could definitely have won, but for the boycott of Kandy SC and CH & FC players”.

Fernando, said that the morale of the side was `quite good’, having got up the team just a day prior to their departure to Dubai and being able to score four tries against Chinese Taipei was in itself a `big achievement’. He spoke highly of the desire shown by his makeshift squad in representing the country and the sheer determination to do well on the global stage.

The open-side flanker noted that `it was a long-time dream come true’ to have been made skipper of the national team, but on a downside to it, was quick to say that he never bargained for the last minute pull-out of Kandy SC and CH & FC players from the squad.

He dismissed reports in the media which stated that his father - Chairman of the National Olympic Committee (NOC) Hemasiri Fernando, had gone out of his way or misused his power in making an appeal to the Minister to make his son the captain of Sri Lanka.

“I only took some advice from my father”, Pavithra said, referring to the involvement of his father in the captaincy controversy.

“Then I wrote to the Minister based on the advice of my father.

“He stated that what was done by the Rohan Abayakoon committee was downright wrong, and that he should be given a chance, leadership wise, as he was more qualified than Dilanka Wijesekera to lead Sri Lanka at the championship.

“I have more captaincy experience than Dilanka as I have led CR & FC in 2004, 2005 and 2006 and won the best captain’s award in 2006 at the annual rugby awards.

“I told in my appeal to the Minister that the only reason why I couldn’t turn out for the national team was primarily due to a career threatening back injury which I sustained while playing for Sri Lanka against Kzakhastan in Kazkhstan in 2005”.He also called for stringent action to be taken against all boycotting Kandy SC and CH & FC players, so as to set a precedent which could prevent one or two elite clubs and their officials from harming future prospects for Sri Lanka rugby.

The Sri Lanka captain also hailed the input of stop-gap coach John Carrington during the tour to Dubai and added that the New Zealander who is an IRB Level 4 accredited coach, was the only one of his kind to have ever been in Sri Lanka.