Battle lines drawn in SLR hustings between ‘Dida’ and ‘Bonza’

The daggers have been drawn in what could turn out to be a bitter power struggle in Sri Lanka Rugby (SLR) between the incumbent p re s i d e n t L a s i t h a Gunaratne and deputy president Rizly Illyas who have been wooing the provincial unions long b e f o re nominat i o n s for office-bearers were called yesterday.

“The annual general meeting will be held on August 29. The closing date to submit nominations is July 20,” said Rohan Gunaratne, Executive Director of SLR.

But the election process is not as simple as it looks especially since it is the provincial unions and not the clubs who have voting rights, with the eligibility of candidates and how many votes each union is entitled to based on certain criteria being determined by a three- member Election Committee (EC) appointed by the Sports ministry.

The EC comprising retired Supreme Court judge Justice Nimal E. Dissanayake ( chairman), retired High Court judge Justice Wimal Nambuwasam and retired provincial sports director R. D. N. Chandrasekera have the onerous task of overseeing the SLR elections, even hearing submissions from lawyers of some unions on Friday.

“As per the Sports Law, the election process is handled by the EC. We have nothing to do with the process. The SLR only handles correspondence,” an SLR official said.

“Normally there can’t be a contest through the provincial unions because Western Province Rugby Football Union ( WPRFU) have 25 to 30 votes which all other unions put together doesn’t have,” the SLR official added.

Ironically the Air Force, Navy, CH& FC, Havelocks and Police have resigned from the WPRFU because they wanted a seat in the SLR Council and their voting rights restored. WPRFU president Nazeem Mohomed confirmed that four clubs – CH, Havies, Navy and Police – have pulled out from the WPRFU.

Constitutional amendments to this effect were thwarted by a Sports Ministry circular which prevented a Special General Meeting being held before the AGM and after the EC had been formed.

Although Illyas has unofficially announced his candidacy unveiling his manifesto which went viral on social media, it is not clear whether Gunaratne intends seek re-election. Illyas claims he came forward being under the impression that Gunaratne would stand down after completing his two-year term.

“I have come through the mill.

I am trying to put all the tools of my experience. I alone can’t fulfil the dream that I have or what I need to do for the national rugby. I have put forward a manifesto with the best team I have,” said the former Petersons number eight, a past president of WPRFU.

Former Sri Lanka number eight Gunaratne is entitled to seek a second term in office. He was not available for comment. The picture is expected to become clearer at the next SLR Council meeting on Tuesday. However, one thing is clear. The battle lines have been drawn between two heavyweights Rizly ‘ Dida’ Illyas and Lasitha ‘ Bonza’ Gunaratne ahead of SLR elections.