With one week to go in the 1st round of the Dialog Rugby League, the issue pertaining to ground security at Ratmalana continues to cause problems for the organizers along with some incidents of indiscipline also reported from the by-gone week.
Week 6 of the Dialog Rugby League that kicked off on the 14th of December saw CR & FC hosting Air Force SC in the match-week opener. The tackle on CR’s Tarinda Ratwatte in the opening few minutes of play was overlooked by the match referee.
Caption: The incident occurred in the 17th minute of play
Rumesh Wasantha of Air Force dangerously tackled Ratwatte, when he was in air trying to go for the ball. The tackle was deemed reckless and dangerous in the inquiry that was held following the submission from the citing match commissioner.
The Air Force player Rumesh Wasantha has been awarded a red card for his offense and has been handed a 2-match suspension. This means that he will miss the last game of the Dialog Rugby League and the opener of the 2nd round.
Meanwhile the inquiry on the assault on the referee at the Air Force Grounds in the 5th week of action is yet to be resolved. In the last meeting, there was no consensus agreed upon by the respective parties.
Earlier the Sri Lanka Rugby Referees Society in an official statement took a stance not appoint referees for games in Ratmalana until the security of the referees are assured.
Read more: Rugby referee assaulted in Ratmalana
Thereby, the disciplinary committee appointed by Sri Lanka Rugby has provided another date for a final inquiry.
Referee Anil Mangala was assaulted by unknown individuals following the Air Force v Navy game
Until such time, there will no matches played at Ratmalana grounds that are hosted by Air Force.
This means that the Air Force v Havelock SC clash that was set to play on the 29th of December 2018 at Ratmalana will be played at Police Park.
The Dialog Rugby League week 7 games will kick off on Friday.
