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World Rugby Suspends Sri Lanka Rugby

Published

3 years ago

May 18, 2023

Editor

The World Rugby (WR) Council met on 11 May and considered the ongoing membership of Sri Lanka Rugby (SLR). Subsequent to the meeting, by letter dated 17 May 2023 addressed to Hasan Sinhawansa, Executive Director of Sri Lanka Rugby, World Rugby (WR) has advised they have decided to suspend the membership of Sri Lanka Rugby (SLR). The suspension effectively means Sri Lanka will be unable to take part in any tournament outside the country.

The Minister of Sports reinstated SLR as a sports federation in Sri Lanka under the temporary operational control of a Stabilization Committee recently. However, World Rugby considers the action contrary to the bye-laws of World Rugby.

World Rugby Council considered a recommendation of the executive board and accepted the proposal to suspend SLR following the bye-laws relating to political interference.

WR agreed that they and Asia Rugby would work with all stakeholders to ensure the least possible disruption to rugby in Sri Lanka. The priority of WR is to work with all stakeholders to resolve ongoing governance issues urgently.

Previously, the Secretary to the National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka (NOCSL), by letter dated 3 May 2023 addressed to the Chairman of World Rugby, advised that they recognize only the duly elected committee headed by Rizly Illyas.

Furthermore, the letter stated that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Olympic Committee of Asia (OCA) does not recognize the appointment of the Stabilization Committee or other interim arrangement made by the Sports Ministry in terms of the Sports Law. NOCSL stated they identify only the duly elected committee of the Sports Federation according to the constitution approved by World Rugby.

Earlier in January, Sri Lankan football fans also had a rude shock when news broke that the Football Federation of Sri Lanka (FFSL) had been suspended by the international football governing body FIFA until further notice due to third-party interference.

ලෝක රග්බි ශ්‍රී ලංකා රග්බි ක්‍රීඩාව අත්හිටුවයි

ලෝක රග්බි (WR) කවුන්සිලය මැයි 11 දින රැස් වූ අතර ශ්‍රී ලංකා රග්බි (SLR) හි දැනට පවතින සාමාජිකත්වය පිළිබඳව සලකා බලන ලදී. රැස්වීමෙන් අනතුරුව, ශ්‍රී ලංකා රග්බි, ලෝක රග්බි (WR) හි විධායක අධ්‍යක්ෂ හසන් සිංහවංශ වෙත 2023 මැයි 17 දිනැති ලිපියක් මගින් ශ්‍රී ලංකා රග්බි (SLR) සාමාජිකත්වය අත්හිටුවීමට තීරණය කර ඇති බව උපදෙස් දී ඇත. මෙම තහනම හේතුවෙන් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට රටින් පිටත කිසිදු තරඟාවලියකට සහභාගී වීමට නොහැකි වනු ඇත.

ස්ථායීකරණ කමිටුවක තාවකාලික මෙහෙයුම් පාලනය යටතේ ක්‍රීඩා අමාත්‍යවරයා විසින් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ක්‍රීඩා සම්මේලනයක් ලෙස SLR නැවත ස්ථාපිත කරන ලදී. කෙසේ වෙතත්, ලෝක රග්බි ක්‍රියාව ලෝක රග්බි ක්‍රීඩාවේ අතුරු නීතිවලට පටහැනි බව සලකයි.

ලෝක රග්බි කවුන්සිලය විධායක මණ්ඩලයේ නිර්දේශයක් සලකා බැලූ අතර දේශපාලන ඇඟිලි ගැසීම් සම්බන්ධ අතුරු නීති අනුගමනය කරමින් SLR අත්හිටුවීමේ යෝජනාව පිළිගත්තේය.

ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ රග්බි ක්‍රීඩාවට සිදුවිය හැකි අවම බාධාව සහතික කිරීම සඳහා ඔවුන් සහ ඒෂියා රග්බි සියලු පාර්ශවකරුවන් සමඟ කටයුතු කරන බවට WR එකඟ විය. WR හි ප්‍රමුඛතාවය වන්නේ දැනට පවතින පාලන ගැටළු කඩිනමින් විසඳීම සඳහා සියලුම පාර්ශවකරුවන් සමඟ කටයුතු කිරීමයි.

මීට පෙර, ශ්‍රී ලංකා ජාතික ඔලිම්පික් කමිටුවේ (NOCSL) ලේකම් විසින් 2023 මැයි 3 දිනැති ලිපියක් මගින් ලෝක රග්බි සභාපතිවරයාට යවන ලද ලිපියක් මගින් උපදෙස් දුන්නේ රිස්ලි ඉල්ලියාස්ගේ ප්‍රධානත්වයෙන් යුත් නිසි පරිදි තේරී පත් වූ කමිටුව පමණක් පිළිගන්නා ලෙසයි.
තවද, ජාත්‍යන්තර ඔලිම්පික් කමිටුව (IOC) සහ ආසියානු ඔලිම්පික් කමිටුව (OCA) ස්ථායීකරණ කමිටුව පත් කිරීම හෝ ක්‍රීඩා නීතියට අනුව ක්‍රීඩා අමාත්‍යාංශය විසින් කරන ලද වෙනත් අතුරු වැඩපිළිවෙලක් පිළි නොගන්නා බව එම ලිපියේ සඳහන් වේ. NOCSL ප්‍රකාශ කළේ ලෝක රග්බි විසින් අනුමත කරන ලද ව්‍යවස්ථාවට අනුව ක්‍රීඩා සම්මේලනයේ නිසි පරිදි තේරී පත් වූ කමිටුව පමණක් ඔවුන් හඳුනා ගන්නා බවයි.

ජනවාරි මස මුලදී, ශ්‍රී ලංකා පාපන්දු සම්මේලනය (FFSL) තුන්වන පාර්ශ්වයේ මැදිහත්වීම් හේතුවෙන් නැවත දැනුම් දෙන තුරු ජාත්‍යන්තර පාපන්දු පාලක මණ්ඩලය වන FIFA විසින් අත්හිටුවා ඇති බවට ප්‍රවෘත්ති පළ වූ විට ශ්‍රී ලංකා පාපන්දු ලෝලීන් ද දැඩි කම්පනයකට පත් විය.

உலக ரக்பி இலங்கை ரக்பியை இடைநிருத்தியது

உலக ரக்பி (WR) கவுன்சில் மே 11 அன்று கூடியது மற்றும் இலங்கை ரக்பியின் (SLR) தற்போதைய உறுப்பினர் குறித்து பரிசீலித்தது. கூட்டத்திற்குப் பிறகு, 2023 மே 17 தேதியிட்ட கடிதம் மூலம், இலங்கை ரக்பி, வேர்ல்ட் ரக்பியின் (WR) நிறைவேற்றுப் பணிப்பாளர் ஹசன் சின்ஹவன்ச, இலங்கை ரக்பியின் (SLR) அங்கத்துவத்தை இடைநிறுத்தத் தீர்மானித்துள்ளதாக அறிவுறுத்தியுள்ளார். இந்த இடைநிறுத்தம் இலங்கையால் நாட்டிற்கு வெளியே எந்தவொரு போட்டியிலும் பங்கேற்க முடியாது.

விளையாட்டு அமைச்சர் SLR ஐ இலங்கையில் விளையாட்டுக் கூட்டமைப்பாக மீண்டும் நிலைப்படுத்துதல் குழுவின் தற்காலிக செயல்பாட்டுக் கட்டுப்பாட்டின் கீழ் மீண்டும் நிறுவினார். இருப்பினும், உலக ரக்பியின் துணை விதிகளுக்கு முரணான செயலை உலக ரக்பி கருதுகிறது.

உலக ரக்பி கவுன்சில் நிர்வாகக் குழுவின் பரிந்துரையைப் பரிசீலித்தது மற்றும் அரசியல் தலையீடு தொடர்பான துணைச் சட்டங்களைப் பின்பற்றி SLR ஐ இடைநிறுத்துவதற்கான முன்மொழிவை ஏற்றுக்கொண்டது.

இலங்கையில் றக்பிக்கு குறைந்த பட்ச இடையூறு ஏற்படுவதை உறுதி செய்வதற்காக தாங்களும் Asia Rugbyயும் அனைத்து பங்குதாரர்களுடனும் இணைந்து செயல்படுவதாக WR ஒப்புக்கொண்டது. WR இன் முன்னுரிமை, தற்போதைய நிர்வாகச் சிக்கல்களை அவசரமாகத் தீர்க்க அனைத்து பங்குதாரர்களுடனும் இணைந்து பணியாற்றுவதாகும்.

முன்னதாக, இலங்கை தேசிய ஒலிம்பிக் குழுவின் செயலாளர் (NOCSL), உலக ரக்பியின் தலைவருக்கு 3 மே 2023 தேதியிட்ட கடிதம் மூலம், ரிஸ்லி இல்யாஸ் தலைமையிலான முறையாக தேர்ந்தெடுக்கப்பட்ட குழுவை மட்டுமே அங்கீகரிக்க வேண்டும் என்று அறிவுறுத்தினார்.

மேலும், சர்வதேச ஒலிம்பிக் கமிட்டி (ஐஓசி) மற்றும் ஆசிய ஒலிம்பிக் கமிட்டி (ஓசிஏ) ஆகியவை விளையாட்டு சட்டத்தின் அடிப்படையில் விளையாட்டு அமைச்சகத்தால் செய்யப்பட்ட ஸ்திரப்படுத்தல் குழு அல்லது பிற இடைக்கால ஏற்பாட்டின் நியமனத்தை அங்கீகரிக்கவில்லை என்று கடிதத்தில் குறிப்பிடப்பட்டுள்ளது. உலக ரக்பியால் அங்கீகரிக்கப்பட்ட அரசியலமைப்பின்படி விளையாட்டுக் கூட்டமைப்பிற்கு முறையாகத் தேர்ந்தெடுக்கப்பட்ட குழுவை மட்டுமே அவர்கள் அடையாளம் காட்டுவதாக NOCSL கூறியது.

ஜனவரியில், மூன்றாம் தரப்பினரின் குறுக்கீடு காரணமாக, இலங்கை கால்பந்து சம்மேளனம் (FFSL) சர்வதேச கால்பந்து நிர்வாக அமைப்பான FIFAவினால் மறு அறிவிப்பு வரும் வரை இடைநிறுத்தப்பட்டதாக செய்தி வெளியானபோது, இலங்கை கால்பந்து ரசிகர்களும் ஒரு முரட்டுத்தனமான அதிர்ச்சியை அடைந்தனர்.

News

Historic Victory for School for the Deaf Basketball Team

Published

2 days ago

May 13, 2026

Editor

The Under-15 basketball team of School for the Deaf, Ratmalana created history by winning the U15 Basketball Tournament organised by the Sri Lanka Schools Basketball Association. Their remarkable achievement has become an inspiring story of determination, teamwork, and courage.

The most touching moment of the final came after the match ended. As the referees blew the final whistle, the players could not hear the sound because they are hearing impaired. However, within seconds, their coach turned towards them with joy and signalled the unforgettable news they had won the championship.

The emotional celebration that followed moved everyone present at the venue. The young players hugged each other with pride and happiness after achieving a victory that will be remembered for years to come. Their performance throughout the tournament displayed excellent discipline, skill, and fighting spirit.

This historic triumph is not only a proud moment for the school but also an inspiration to the entire nation. It reminds us that determination and hard work can overcome any challenge, proving that true talent has no barriers.

News

Savinaka claim title for third successive year as Thulithclaim double crown at MBA Open Badminton Championships 2026

Published

2 days ago

May 13, 2026

Editor

Savinaka Weerasekara defended his title for the second consecutive year while Thulith Palliyaguru accounted for a double crown at the MBA All-Island Open Badminton Championship 2026, which concluded in a grand scale at the Mercantile Badminton Association (MBA) courts in Colombo.

After conceding the first set by 18-21, Savinaka Weerasekarabounced back to overcome aspiring shuttler Keneth Aruggodaby 21-12 and 21-5 to seal the MBA Open Men’s Singles title for the third consecutive year. Varangana Jayawardana defeated Dulanya Karunarathna in similar fashion by 2-1, with set scores of 19-21, 21-12 and 21-13 to claim the MBA Open Women’s Singles title.

Thulith Palliyaguru partnered with Oshamika Karunarathna to overcome the duo of Jason Homer and Thavisha Samararatne in straight sets (24-22, 21-16) to claim the Open Men’s Doubles title, after pairing up with Panchali Adhikari to win the Open Mixed Doubles title to secure his double crown. Thulith and Panchali defeated Aashinsa Herath and Varangana Jayawardanain straight sets, with scores of 21-16 and 21-17. The Open Women’s Doubles title was claimed by Anurangi Masakoralaand Praveena Wijesundara, who defeated Isuri Attanayake and Sithumi de Silva in straight sets by 22-20 and 21-16 after an absorbing battle.

In the Junior category, Dinew Wmalaratne and NethmiRatnayake secured the U-19 Boy’s and Girl’s Singles titles, with the former accounting for a double crown. Dinew was given a tough challenge by Senuth Perera, who squared the Boy’s Singles final after the eventual champion won the first set by 21-17 and conceded the second 16-21 to set a thrilling final set. Dinew claimed the final set 21-18 and secured the title by 2-1, after claiming the Boys’ U-19 Doubles title partnering with Keneth Aruggoda to defeat Thejana Herath and MihilaJayaweera in straight sets, with scores of 21/13 and 21-16.

Nethmi Ratnayake defeated Dulanya Karunarathna in straight sets by 21-17 and 21-14, while the pairing of Isuri Attanayakeand Sithumi de Silva went on to overcome Vinuthi Ranasingheand Yenara Wickramasinghe by 2-1 to claim the Girls’ U-19 Doubles title. Isuri and Sithumi conceded the first set 16-21, but bounced back to claim the remaining two sets by 24-22 and 21-9 to emerge winners after a grueling battle.

The annual elite badminton competition conducted by Mercantile Badminton Association, attracted nearly 1900 shuttlers, who battled it out in 59 different events. A grand cash prize of Rs. 750,000 was on offer in addition to gifts and certificates at the event, which was held at the MBA, Sri Lanka Badminton and Otters courts from May 2nd to 10th with Elite Shutter stepping forward as the Main Sponsor. Other sponsors namely DMS, Hundred, Linning, Omrith, ATG, NST Enterprises, Mclarens Group, Mobil, Lanla Commodity Brokers, Gangani Tea Factory, Forbes & Walker Tea Factory, Green House Tea Factory, Palathota Uva Tea Factory and Sanda HiruProductions contributed for the success of the nine-day event. Mrs Shanga Jayawicrama graced the awards ceremony as Chief Guest while Brian Gomes of Elite Shutter made his presence as the Guest of Honour.

Cricket

SLC Postpones Domestic Cricket Tournaments Due to Adverse Weather

Published

2 days ago

May 13, 2026

Editor

Sri Lanka Cricket has announced the postponement of all its scheduled domestic cricket tournaments following an assessment of prevailing weather conditions across the country.

The decision affects several key competitions that were due to commence today, including the Major Club T20 Tournament, Tier B Club T20 Tournament, and the Governors Trophy tournament.

According to SLC, the move was taken to ensure the safety of players, officials, and support staff, while also maintaining the quality of playing conditions amid continued unfavorable weather.

Tournament organizers stated that revised schedules for the affected competitions will be released in due course after further evaluation of weather forecasts and ground conditions.