KANDY PULL OUT OF CLIFFORD CUP
Kandy Sports Club have surprisingly pulled out of the Clifford Cup Knock-out Inter-club Rugby Tournament after being told to play their quarter-final match against Air Force Sports Club at Pallekele by Sri Lanka Rugby (SLR), the club confirmed yesterday.
Kandy SC on Sunday made a request to reconsider the decision to which the SLR have not been able to respond.
“We are very disappointed with the way SLR have organised this tournament because we were willing to play at Bogambara too, but I don’t understand why the game needs to be played in Pallekele which is a difficult place for the spectators to travel. So, the club today (yesterday) decided to pull out of the tournament,” Lasantha Wijesuriya, Rugby Chairman – Kandy Sports Club told yesterday.
Kandy SC’S absence would certainly make this tournament more competitive as the team from the Hill Capital has secured the Clifford Cup 22 times absolutely dominating it for years while it would also mean some of country’s best rugby players such as Danushka Ranjan, Nigel Ratwatte, Roshan Weeraratne, Anurudda Wilwara and Shehan Pathirana would not feature in one of the major events of the SLR calendar.
Kandy SC issued a statement yesterday evening confirming that the defending champions of the Clifford Cup were withdrawing from the tournament.
“We are disappointed that the Union has failed to realise that playing in front of 200 people is not the way to promote the game. Even if the admission is free the spectators will not come all the way to Pallekele, which by the way is in the Kundasale electorate, not Kandy, since they have to walk around three kilometres to the ground,
“We are also surprised that the Racecourse Ground is considered a neutral venue when CH and FC has played all their home games at this ground.”
“Please be informed that Kandy Sports Club has been compelled to refrain from participating in this year’s Clifford Cup,” Kandy SC stated in the letter.