News
The ban on the former president of the Sri Lanka Rugby Federation is upheld
The Asian Rugby Federation has rejected the appeal of the former President of the Sri Lanka Rugby Federation Mr. Ilyas and confirmed his ban.
After reconsidering the appeal sent to them by the former president of the Sri Lanka Rugby Federation, Mr. Mohammad Risley Ilyas, who was banned by the Asian Rugby Federation, the ban will continue until the end of the current Asian Rugby Federation’s term of office. The Ministry has been notified today (July 14) through an e-mail message.
Earlier, due to the Asian Rugby Federation banning Mr. Ilyas, the Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs Roshan Ranasinghe issued a gazette notice suspending the activities of the Sri Lanka Rugby Federation and its president, Mr. Ilyas, as stated in the constitution of the Rugby Institute.
Against this, Mr. Ilyas filed a case in the Court of Appeal and accordingly, the Court of Appeal has issued an interim injunction order on the gazette notification issued by the Minister of Sports preventing the activities of the Sri Lanka Rugby Institute today (July 14).
Today (July 14), the Ministry of Sports will make a motion to present the facts to the Court of Appeal, including the details of the rejection of Mr. Ilyas’ appeal by the Asian Rugby Federation and the confirmation of the ban, including the clauses contained in the constitution of the Rugby Institute that caused the ban of Mr. Ilyas, and the activities of the Rugby Institute and Mr. Ilyas are banned. It was not for a political reason, and in accordance with the existing sports law in Sri Lanka and in accordance with the rugby constitution, an official who has been internationally banned cannot hold office in the Sri Lanka Rugby Federation, the Ministry of Sports has stated.
In today’s email from the Asian Rugby Federation, it is further stated as follows.
“Mr. Ilyas was found guilty on the charge of breaching the terms and ethics of the Asian Rugby Federation following an extensive investigation by a judicial officer of the Asian Rugby Executive Committee. Mr. Ilyas had the opportunity to present an appeal for that, and the appeal board appointed by Kazakhstan Rugby President Mrs. Aigul Jertybayeva with the membership of Chinese Taipei Rugby Football Association President Mr. Geoffrey Chang and Court Officer Mr. David Boyton rejected Mr. Ilyas’ appeal after proper investigation and evaluation. was The expulsion of Mr. Ilyas from the Asian Rugby Council is binding until the end of the current Asian Rugby Council’s term.
ශ්රී ලංකා රග්බි සම්මේලනයේ හිටපු සභාපතිගේ තහනම තහවුරු වේ
ආසියානු රග්බි සම්මේලනය ශ්රී ලංකා රග්බි සම්මේලනයේ හිටපු සභාපති ඉල්යාස් මහතාගේ අභියාචනය ප්රතික්ෂේප කර ඔහුගේ තහනම සහතික කරයි.
ආසියානු රග්බි සම්මේලනය මගින් තහනමට ලක් කර සිටි ශ්රී ලංකා රග්බි සම්මේලනයේ හිටපු සභාපති මොහොමඩ් රිස්ලි ඉල්යාස් මහතා විසින් ඔවුන් වෙත යොමු කර තිබූ අභියාචනය නැවත සළකා බැලීමෙන් අනතුරුව එම තහනම ඉවත් නොකර වත්මන් ආසියානු රග්බි සම්මේලනයේ නිල කාලය අවසන් වන තෙක් පවතින බව ද දන්වමින් ක්රීඩා හා යෞවන කටයුතු අමාත්යාංශය වෙත අද (ජූලි 14 දින) විද්යුත් තැපැල් පණිවිඩයක් (E mail) මගින් දැනුම් දී ඇත.
මින් පෙර අවස්ථාවේ ආසියානු රග්බි සම්මේලනය ඉල්යාස් මහතා තහනම් කිරීම හේතුවෙන් රග්බි ආයතනයේ ව්යවස්ථාවේ සදහන් පරිදි ක්රීඩා හා යෞවන කටයුතු අමාත්ය රොෂාන් රණසිංහ මහතා ශ්රී ලංකා රග්බි සම්මේලනයේ සහ එහි සභාපති ඉල්යාස් මහතාගේ කටයුතු අත්හිටුවමින් ගැසට් නිවේදනයක් නිකුත් කරන ලදි.
ඊට එරෙහිව ඉල්යාස් මහතා විසින් අභියාචනාධිකරණයේ නඩුවක් ගොනු කරන ලද අතර ඒ අනුව ශ්රී ලංකා රග්බි ආයතනයේ කටයුතු වලක්වාලමින් ක්රීඩා අමාත්යවරයා විසින් නිකුත් කළ ගැසට් නිවේදනයට අභියාචනාධිකරණයෙන් අතුරු තහනම් නියෝගයක් අද (ජූලි 14) දින නිකුත් කර ඇත.
අද (ජූලි 14) දින ආසියානු රග්බි සම්මේලනයෙන් ඉල්යාස් මහතාගේ අභියාචනය ප්රතික්ෂේප කර තහනම තහවුරු කිරීමේ තොරතුරුද ඇතුලත්ව, ඉල්යාස් මහතා තහනම් කිරීමට හේතු වූ රග්බි ආයතනයේ ව්යවස්ථාවේ අඩංගු වගන්තිද ඇතුලත්ව මෝසමක් මගින් අභියාචනාධිකරණයට කරුණු දැක්වීමට ක්රීඩා අමාත්යාංශය විසින් කටයුතු කරන අතර රග්බි ආයතනයේ සහ ඉල්යාස් මහතාගේ කටයුතු තහනම් වූයේ දේශපාලන හේතුවක් නොවන අතර, ලංකාවේ පවතින ක්රීඩා නීතියට අනුකූලව සහ රග්බි ව්යවස්ථාවට අනුකූලව ජාත්යන්තර තහනමකට ලක් වූ නිළධාරියෙකු ශ්රී ලංකා රග්බි සම්මේලනයේ නිළතල දැරිය නොහැකියි යන පදනම මත බව ක්රීඩා අමාත්යාංය සදහන් කර සිටියි.
අද දින ආසියානු රග්බි සම්මේලනයෙන් ලද ඊමේල් පනිවිඩයෙහි වැඩිදුරටත් මෙසේ සදහන්ව ඇත.
‘‘ඉල්යාස් මහතා ආසියානු රග්බි සම්මේලනයේ කොන්දේසි හා ආචාරධර්ම උල්ලංඝනය කිරීමේ චෝදනාව මත ආසියානු රග්බි විධායක කමිටුව අධිකරණ නිලධාරියකු විසින් කරන ලද පුළුල් විමර්ශනයක් මත වරදකරු කරනු ලැබීය. ඉල්යාස් මහතාට ඒ සදහා අභියාචනයක් ඉදිරිපත් කිරීමට අවස්ථාව හිමි වූ අතර, චීන තායිපේ රග්බි පාපන්දු සංගමයේ සභාපති ජෙෆ්රි චෑං මහතා සහ අධිකරණ නිලධාරී ඩේවිඩ් බොයිටන් මහතාගේ සාමාජිකත්වයෙන් කසකස්තාන රග්බි සභාපති අයිගුල් ජර්ටිබයේවා මහත්මියගේ ප්රධානත්වයෙන් පත් කරන ලද අභියාචනා මණ්ඩලය නිසි පරීක්ෂණයකින් හා ඇගයීමකින් පසු ඉල්ලියාස් මහතාගේ අභියාචනය ප්රතික්ෂේප කරන ලදී. ඉල්යාස් මහතා ආසියානු රග්බි කවුන්සිලයෙන් නෙරපා හැරීම වත්මන් ආසියානු රග්බි කවුන්සිලයේ නිල කාලය අවසන් වන තෙක් බැඳී පවතී.’’
Cricket
Hyderabad Kingsmen Eye Maheesh Theekshana as Baartman’s Replacement
Hyderabad Kingsmen, one of the two debutant franchises in the upcoming Pakistan Super League (PSL) season, are exploring options to fill the void left by South African pacer Ottniel Baartman. The 11th edition of the PSL is set to run from March 26 to May 3.
According to sources, the Kingsmen have approached Sri Lankan mystery spinner Maheesh Theekshana to join their squad. His availability, however, hinges on securing a No-Objection Certificate (NOC) from Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC).

Baartman, who was picked during the historic inaugural PSL auction at Lahore’s Expo Centre on February 11 for PKR 1.1 crore, has withdrawn from the tournament. Neither the player nor the franchise has disclosed the reason for his absence.
Theekshana, meanwhile, offers proven pedigree in the shortest format. The 23-year-old has already represented Sri Lanka in 83 T20Is, bagging 82 wickets at an economy rate of 7.08. His franchise résumé is equally impressive, with stints in the IPL, SA20, ILT20, CPL, and LPL, making him a sought-after asset in global T20 leagues.
The PSL’s landmark 11th edition will feature eight teams, including new entrants Hyderabad Kingsmen and Rawalpindi, battling across 44 matches in 39 days. In a significant shift, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has streamlined the tournament logistics, announcing that all fixtures will be staged in Karachi and Lahore behind closed doors.
PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi confirmed the revised plans after consultations with franchise owners and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the Patron-in-Chief of the league. Initially, six cities—Multan, Peshawar, Faisalabad, Karachi, Rawalpindi, and Lahore—were under consideration as hosts, but the board opted for consolidation to ensure smooth operations.
With Baartman’s exit and Theekshana’s potential arrival, Hyderabad Kingsmen’s debut campaign promises intrigue, as the franchise looks to make its mark in Pakistan’s premier T20 competition.
Cricket
Rajasthan Royals Rope In Dasun Shanaka as Sam Curran’s Replacement for IPL 2026
Rajasthan Royals have confirmed Sri Lankan T20I skipper Dasun Shanaka as the replacement for England’s Sam Curran, who has been ruled out of the upcoming IPL season due to injury.
“We are disappointed to lose a player of Sam’s calibre so close to the start of the season,” said Kumar Sangakkara, Director of Cricket and Head Coach of the Royals. “Sam brings immense value with both bat and ball. However, we are pleased to have found an ideal replacement in Dasun Shanaka, a proven finisher and quality all-rounder who maintains the balance of our side.”
Shanaka, 34, is a seasoned campaigner in the shortest format. Since his debut in 2015, he has featured in 131 T20Is for Sri Lanka, amassing 1,912 runs at a strike rate of 128.40. His highest score, an unbeaten 76 against Pakistan at the T20 World Cup earlier this year, underlined his ability to deliver under pressure. With the ball, the right-arm medium pacer has claimed 46 wickets, boasting best figures of 3/16.
The Sri Lankan captain also brings prior IPL experience, having represented Gujarat Titans in 2023. His inclusion is expected to bolster Rajasthan’s lower-middle order and provide valuable depth in both departments.
Rajasthan Royals will kick off their campaign against Chennai Super Kings at the ACA Stadium in Guwahati on March 30.
Cricket
Kingswood College ends 68-year wait with historic victory
Kingswood College, Kandy, ended a 68-year wait with a historic triumph at the 119th Battle of the Maroons, defeating Dharmaraja College by 148 runs.
It was their first victory in the annual ‘Big Match’ since 1958, a moment that will be remembered as one of the school’s greatest cricketing achievements.
Kingswood set the tone with a first-innings total of 226 before dismissing Dharmaraja for 160 to secure a 66-run lead. In the second innings, a bold declaration at 248/4 left the Rajans chasing a steep target. The pressure proved too much, and Dharmaraja collapsed for 166, sealing Kingswood’s emphatic win.
The dominant performance brought the T.B. Tennakoon Trophy back to Randles Hill, ending nearly seven decades of anticipation and marking a new chapter in Kingswood’s cricketing legacy.
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