SLR disturbed by Schools’ status quo
Handling of the Singer Schools’ Rugby league is under scrutiny. The issue had been cooking on low flame for some time, but with the recent eruption of crowd violence and a series of other controversies that preceded it, it is out there now and is up for serious debate.
The Sri Lanka Schools Rugby Football Association (SLSRFA) hasn’t had the best of relationships with the sport’s governing body, Sri Lanka Rugby (SLR). This split is of concern because, as far as the World Rugby (WR) is concerned, SLR is the only authorised body to administer rugby in Sri Lanka. Hence, only they are accountable for the implementation (or the lack of implementation) of WR rules, the SLSRFA, if it so desires, can bend and twist these rules to suit the moment. Although no such case has been reported, the handling of matters preceding and following the crowd violence, and a sense of a lack of responsibility, has led to the question; ‘Can the Association handle this tournament in accordance with the established rules and code of conduct?’ to be asked. The divorce between the SLSRFA and the WR authorised SLR, makes things worse.
An option put on the table is for the two bodies to work more closely with each other with the SLR acting as guide and checker of WR rules. While both parties have finally agreed to this, after years of misunderstanding, there is still confusion on the process of sanctioning the School’s Rugby League by the SLR, to make it an official WR tournament.
Lasitha Gunaratne, Vice President of SLR, said the schools rugby people had submitted their rugby manual and rulebook last week, which the official body will go through and make the necessary recommendations to, and after an assessment of the SLSRFA’s ability to implement these, will sanction the league. However, Ranjith Chandrasekara, President of SLSRFA, said he saw no need of sanctioning the league.
“We are following the WR rules and the rules put forth by the Education Ministry, the authority we come under. We are willing to work with the SLR and follow their advice, but I don’t see why we should get their approval to run this league,” Chandrasekara said.
Colonel Manjula Kariyawasam, Director of Sports at the Education M i n i s t r y, agreed with Chandrasekara's views.
What Chandrasekera didn’t seem to get was that if the SLR approved the manuals and rules submitted to them, it would naturally lead up to the league being sanctioned.
Gunaratne explained the importance of sanctioning the league, saying it would create accountability.
“Presently, given that we don’t recognise the league, any complain regarding its officiating cannot be taken up holding us responsible. While they (SLSRFA) may be following the world rugby rules there is no obligation to check these. Any complain made cannot be matched against the rules. Therefore sanctioning it is important,” he said.
He also said that if these rules were followed and implemented, all the issues that came up at the end of last month could have been resolved in a proper manner.
Gunaratne told the Sunday Times how previous attempts to reconcile the sanctioning issue were thwarted by the SLRFA’s last moment withdrawals.
“When they came to us for approval we requested them to submit their tournament rules and structure for assessment, but after saying they would do so, they never showed up again,” he said.
“Also, they never invited us for any of their Annual General Meetings or discussions. We invite them for ours. We don’t plan on usurping the tournament from them. All we are doing is offering a service to improve the game as authorised by world rugby. We can’t and don’t wish to do anything by force.”
However, Gunaratne said that nevertheless the SLR has a responsibility to look into the administering of the game. “We have been authorised to administer the game here. Therefore, if there is a serious allegation we do look in to it. Occasionally the SLSRFA themselves call upon us for aid, as with the case of certain players using banned substances some time back.”
Now with both parties agreeing to work together and support each other to improve the standard of the league, we can expect some change. This was decided at a discussion held at the Sports Ministry on 25 May. What remains to be seen is how the issue of sanctioning the tournament will be resolved.
Chandrasekera also spoke regarding some structural changes to the league his administration was hoping to make.
“At present the league is too competitive. It has gone to the point where schools are at it to win at all costs. This includes overworking players and feeding them with all sorts of performance enhancers ( legal but unhealthy) that are beyond their ages. The training that goes on now at schools is similar to what clubs do. These are children. They should be allowed to play the game naturally,” Chandrasekara said.
He said he believed it was partly due to the structure of the league and that changing it would help overcome this issue.
“These are reformations needed in the league. Before the next season begins we will have discussions regarding this and decide how best to reform the structure.”
He also said he would instruct college principals to look into how player training was carried out and to allow for a more natural player development.
“We will be carrying out some workshops on these for the principals,” he concluded.