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
Inquiry Launched Over Bloomfield’s Controversial Declaration
Sri Lanka Cricket has moved swiftly to launch an inquiry into Bloomfield Cricket and Athletic Club’s declaration during their Major Super Eight encounter against Moors Sports Club at Colts Grounds. The decision, which has been branded “unsporty” by critics, saw Bloomfield declare at 239 for 6 despite trailing on first innings, leaving Moors a modest chase of 147 runs. Moors completed the task comfortably, winning by four wickets in just 33 overs and reclaiming their place at the top of the table.
The declaration has raised serious questions about the spirit of competition, prompting SLC to summon captains, coaches, managers, and players from both sides for an official hearing this evening. At the heart of the probe lies a crucial issue: was Bloomfield’s move a bold tactical gamble or a breach of cricketing integrity?
With domestic cricket’s credibility now under the spotlight, the outcome of this inquiry could have significant consequences for the game in Sri Lanka, setting a precedent for how declarations and match strategies are judged in the future.
Cricket
Royal–Thomian One-Day Clash Moved from Night to Day to Counter Fuel Crisis
The Organizing Committee of the 49th Mustangs Trophy, the prestigious Royal‑Thomian One‑Day Cricket Encounter, has announced a significant change to this year’s fixture. The match, scheduled for 28th March 2026, will now be played as a day event instead of the originally planned day‑night format.
This decision comes in response to the ongoing global fuel crisis, with organizers emphasizing the importance of reducing energy consumption and standing in solidarity with the wider public. By shifting to a daytime schedule, the committee aims to minimize the additional fuel demands typically associated with floodlit matches, reflecting a strong commitment to social responsibility and national interest.
Guidance for this move was provided by the Heads of Royal College and S. Thomas’ College, and the change has been formally endorsed by the 147th Royal‑Thomian Joint Match Organising Committee. Both schools’ Old Boy fraternities, along with sponsors, have expressed full support for the adjustment, underscoring the unity and shared responsibility that define this historic encounter.
The Joint Committee reaffirmed that while the format has changed, the essence of the Mustangs Trophy remains untouched.
Cricket
KKR Not Seeking Replacements for Matheesha Pathirana
Kolkata Knight Riders have confirmed they will not seek replacements for Nitish Rana and Matheesha Pathirana ahead of the upcoming IPL season. Rana, who was withdrawn from India’s T20 World Cup squad due to a knee injury, recently underwent surgery and will not be available this year. Over the past two seasons, he had become a reliable pacer for the franchise, taking 19 wickets in IPL 2024 and 15 wickets in IPL 2025, while also adding batting depth to his game. Despite his absence, the management believes the squad has sufficient pace-bowling options and does not see an obvious Indian replacement, with Vaibhav Arora, Umran Malik, Kartik Tyagi, and Akash Deep already in the ranks.
Pathirana, meanwhile, was sidelined due to injury while representing Sri Lanka in the World Cup. However, KKR are optimistic about his recovery and expect him to be available at some stage during the season. The franchise, which invested INR 18 crore to secure his services, is banking on his return to strengthen their death bowling. On Monday, Pathirana’s manager posted a picture of the pacer in KKR colours, raising hopes of his participation.
By choosing not to sign replacements, KKR have signaled confidence in their existing squad depth. While Rana’s absence will test their domestic pace resources, Pathirana’s potential mid-season return could provide a crucial boost, especially in the latter stages of the tournament.
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