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.’’
News
Sri Lanka Eyes Strong Showing at Billie Jean King Cup in Kuala Lumpur
Sri Lanka will begin its campaign at the 2026 Billie Jean King Cup by Gainbridge Asia/Oceania Group II tournament when the prestigious regional team event serves off in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on June 15.
The competition, which runs for six days at the National Tennis Centre, will bring together ten nations from across the Asia-Oceania region. Joining Sri Lanka in the battle for honours are Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong China, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, hosts Malaysia, Pacific Oceania, the Philippines, Singapore and Uzbekistan.
Teams have been drawn into two groups of five and will contest round-robin matches from June 15 to 19. The tournament will conclude with decisive play-off encounters on June 20 to determine promotion and relegation.
With two places available in the 2027 Asia/Oceania Group I competition, the stakes are high for all participating teams. Nations finishing at the bottom of the standings will face relegation to Group III.
Sri Lanka has entrusted a youthful squad with the responsibility of carrying the national flag at the tournament. The team includes Dinara De Silva (St. Bridget’s Convent), Yuhansa Peiris (Bishop’s College), Akeesha Silva (Newstead Girls’ College, Negombo), Annaya Norbet (Holy Family Convent, Bambalapitiya) and Sandithi Usgoda Arachchi (Musaeus College).
Guiding the side will be experienced coach Dineshkanthan Thangarajah, who has been appointed captain for the tournament. His role will be crucial as the young Sri Lankan players seek to make an impact against some of the region’s strongest teams.

News
Vision Care Colombo Championship Set to Serve Off on 19 June
The 111 Vision Care Colombo Championship 2026, one of Sri Lanka’s most prestigious and long-standing ‘A’ Grade tennis tournaments, will get underway on 19 June at the Sri Lanka Tennis Association (SLTA) Playing Section courts in Colombo.
Held on six iconic clay courts, this year’s championship is expected to attract a record number of entries from across the country. The tournament will also offer its largest-ever prize pool of Rs. 3 million, underlining its growing status on the local tennis calendar.

Organizers say the increased investment reflects a long-term commitment to nurturing local tennis talent and raising the standard of competition. Last year’s event featured a prize purse of Rs. 2.5 million, with the amount steadily increasing over recent years.
Tournament officials expressed their ambition of developing the championship into a future ‘Colombo Open’ capable of attracting leading players from across South Asia. They emphasized that the event is not only about tennis but also about building a strong sporting identity for Sri Lanka.
The championship will feature Men’s and Women’s Singles and Doubles events, as well as Mixed Doubles. Junior competitions will be conducted for boys and girls from Under-12 to Under-18 age categories, while senior events will cater to players in the Over-35, Over-45, Over-55 and Over-65 divisions.
Vision Care continues its longstanding support as title sponsor for the 12th consecutive year. Wilson has come on board as the Official Ball Partner.
The sponsorship handover ceremony was attended by Vision Care Managing Director Janaka Fonseka, SLTA Playing Section President Sriya Munasinghe, Captain Prasantha Dissanayake, and other officials representing both the SLTA and Vision Care.
Cricket
Wyatt-Hodge Century Powers England Women to Crushing Win Over Sri Lanka
England Women produced a commanding all-round performance to defeat Sri Lanka Women by 87 runs in their opening game of the ICC T20 Cricket world cup 2026 posting a formidable 219 for 1 from their 20 overs.
Opener Danni Wyatt-Hodge starred with a magnificent unbeaten 105 off 62 balls, striking 13 fours and a six at a blistering strike rate of 169.35. She shared a match-defining 135-run opening partnership with Amy Jones, who contributed a fluent 53 from 38 deliveries. England accelerated further in the closing overs through captain Nat Sciver-Brunt, whose unbeaten 46 from just 22 balls helped the hosts finish with an imposing total.
Sri Lanka’s bowlers struggled to contain England’s aggressive batting, with Malki Madara claiming the only wicket while conceding 51 runs from her four overs.
Chasing 220, Sri Lanka never recovered from an early collapse. Lauren Bell dismissed Vishmi Gunaratne before Charlie Dean removed captain Chamari Athapaththu, leaving the visitors under pressure. Harshitha Samarawickrama offered brief resistance with a quick-fire 29 off 18 balls, while Nilakshika Silva top-scored with 39 from 33 deliveries.
England’s bowlers maintained control throughout the innings. Freya Kemp delivered the standout performance, taking 4 wickets for 22 runs, including three wickets in the space of four balls to derail Sri Lanka’s middle order.
Sophie Ecclestone and Charlie Dean chipped in with two wickets each as Sri Lanka were bowled out for 132 on the final ball of the innings.
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Football1 year agoSri Lanka Announces U19 Football Squad for SAFF Championship 2025

