The Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union (SLRFU) held an important press briefing today at the CR&FC in order to clear the mist about the recent allegations made against the governing body of Sri Lanka rugby by the Sri Lanka Schools Rugby Football Association (SLSRFA).
The executive members of the SLRFU made it very clear that all they wanted was to make efforts to bring together both the parent body the SLRFU and the schools section being SLSRFA to develop rugby in Sri Lanka rather than disbanding and parting ways unnecessarily.
President of the SLRFU, Mr. Asanga Seneviratne took the lead role of explaining to the media the current status quo and clarified as to the reasoning behind the current stand taken by the SLRFU and also refuted the allegations made by the SLSRFA that the SLRFU were planning to swindle the funds.
Asanga began today’s press conference by saying ‘I think it is important for the sake of the game and the reputation of the SLRFU we will clarify a few points.’
‘The SLSRFA secretary has made a statement that the SLRFU is trying to sabotage the schools seasons and the schools framework in Sri Lanka, and it is a very serious statement I will like to address.’ he said.
On the early efforts of bringing the SLRFU and the SLSRFA together
‘When we were appointed, we wanted to approach the SLSRFA and discuss the way forward since there were a lot of issues with schools rugby in Sri Lanka, especially in the way the game is run and how it was managed. However, the first meeting with the schools section was not a cordial one, and we gathered that they weren’t willing to work with us and settle the issues.’ explained Asanga referring to when he and his team took over office last year.
‘But after many references made to us by many concerned parties, a meeting was initiated with the Ministry of Sports and the Ministry of Education and it was clearly stated to the SLSRFA that they should work together with the parent body.’ he further added.
Speaking on the further efforts, Asanga said ‘After this, we had many meetings, including ones with the Director General of Sports, the SLRFU and the SLSRFA, Directors in the Education Ministry and it was finally concluded that we would support the SLSRFA by helping them to obtain sponsors and conduct the tournament in an orderly manner.’
The Aim of the SLRFU made clear
‘We are in no way wanting to run the SLSRFA and host the tournament by ourselves, we want to play a critical role where the tournaments are concerned, especially because the schools depend on us for all their tours and training when it comes to the international stage, and what we have suggested to them is that they are not marketing the schools segment properly.’ he clarified.
The Current Sponsorship Fiasco
‘Last year the sponsorship package was around 15 million rupees, this year the SLSRFA has budgeted for 36 million rupees which is double, but even then we have agreed to come up with the cash.’ explained the President of the SLRFU.
‘But this 30 million can’t be just dispersed, it is incredible that last year the SLSRFA has spent exactly 15 million equalling the total budget and this year they have opted to double the budget and we need to analyse where the funds are going. A request was made to put the funds into an education ministry account which we are fine with, but how the money will be spent is what we need to look at.’ he added.
SLSRFA hits out against SLRFU
Mr Seneviratne also pointed out that at the recent meeting with the Director General of Sports and Directors of the Education Ministry the SLSRFA were agreeable to these conditions but had subsequently thrown allegations at the SLRFU through a newspaper report.
Addressing to a top official of the SLSRFA making allegations to the press against the SLRFU, Mr Seneviratne said ‘But after all these agreements, the SLSRFA have gone beyond their mandate and sullied the name of the SLRFU.’
‘We are very clear, we only want to do is develop rugby in the country, and to do that we need to be very well funded as well. We will support the schools like never before, and the tournament will be held in a very structured and organized manner in which rugby can be developed.’ he further acknowledged.
Poor planning of the Under 20 Sevens Tournament
‘The sevens tournament which was scheduled this week in itself is completely out of line, the reason why the 15 a side club season starts in October is to accommodate the 7s season that is in during the middle of the year, and since it is a very tough format of the game it is important to schedule such tournaments to compliment the players fitness levels.’ said a frustrated Mr. Seneviratne.
‘Any coach plans mainly for the 15 a side tournament, and without following any advice or speaking to people with some knowledge of the Sport the SLSRFA has gone and called for a tournament of such importance.’ he explained
‘We also have two grounds available with floodlights that could be used by the schools for the tournament, even this could not be offered as the SLSRFA failed to communicate properly as to what their plans were to be.’
Deciding on a sponsor
‘We are not interested in one particular sponsor we are interested in a sponsor who will give the most cash, and are only interested in supporting the SLSRFA financially and the tournaments as well.’ he said.
‘I hope this puts to rest any belief that we are trying to sabotage any tournament and that we hope to do the best for rugby in this country, whoever the sponsor is I believe that it should be open and given to the highest bidder.’ concluded Mr. Seneviratne.
Apart from the above mentioned issues, the President of the SLRFU Mr. Asanga Seneviratne explained that a special meeting will be held on Wednesday with the principals of a the top ‘A’ Division Schools to further discuss the future and gain their input on the whole matter as well.
ThePapare.com who managed to speak to Secretary of the SLSRFA Mr. Susantha Mendis on the upcoming U20 sevens tournament which was supposed to take place this weekend (1st and 2nd February) and learnt that the tournament will be most likely postponed to September. The decision to postpone the tournament was made when it was understood that the Referees’ Association had refused to get involved with the above tournament.
ThePapare.com which has always carried rugby at heart, hopes that the matters between the SLRFU and the SLSRFA will be resolved for the greater good of the sport of Rugby in this country.
