October 29, (LNW) Colombo: Sports Director General Shemal Fernando has confirmed to us and other media that he has not appointed the names of the committee appointed to run the Rugby League tournament which is being advertised these days.
Meanwhile, according to The Morning newspaper, former Sri Lankan player Rohan Abeykoon, who has reportedly been named chairman of the sponsoring committee for the publicized committees, states he is unaware of such an appointment.
“I was unaware that my name was included in the committees. All I can say is that I have not received any official confirmation of such an appointment, and you should verify this with the Sports Ministry DG” Rohan told The Morning newspaper.
This situation is extremely dangerous, and if sponsors have already spent money for the tournaments, questions arise regarding who will manage these funds and who will be held accountable. Even now, information is being reported that they are facing a number of problems regarding irregularities and transparency in accounting affairs, and the names of those who have been named in its responsibilities using the temporary rugger control, are also being read in relation to dollar earning tree businesses.
In order to prevent the Director General of Sports from bringing any amendments to the Sri Lanka Rugby Constitution without limiting any of these criticisms, the Provincial Unions have now obtained a restraining order against Dr. Shemal Fernando before the Court of Appeal. In spite of this, saying that the international and Asian associations have more influence than the court decision in this country, they are trying to amend the constitution and delaying the necessary activities for the office election.
Due to this situation, World Rugby’s global governing body has postponed the original deadline of November 8, given to Sri Lanka Rugby to amend its constitution to January 31, 2025.
During that period, the updated decision of the court, the Director General should proceed according to the decision to hold the special general meeting held before the election without interfering with the constitutional amendment and hold the office election, and the appointed administration should be allowed to contact the global governing body of World Rugby and go for the necessary constitutional amendment. The general is stubbornly trying to do it himself.
Although it appears to be according to the wishes of the world rugby, the question arises whether the country’s sports administration can circumvent its courts and act accordingly.
The Rugby administration was dissolved by former minister Harin Fernando for failing to hold the general assembly meeting before the annual cut-off date of May 31. But it was surprising that the director general used the same people from the failed administration for rugby administration, saying that it was according to the agreement of the minister and the World Rugby. The Director General lacks any written documentation regarding the agreement between World Rugby and the Minister. Furthermore, no notice has been provided to World Rugby regarding the objections raised by the regional associations that have voting rights concerning the appointments. Additionally, no actions have been taken to inform World Rugby that assigning management responsibilities to individuals from a dissolved administration is unethical.
Shemal Fernando, a well-known military officer with a significant role in sports administration who has worked diligently to send selected athletes to the Olympics in recent years, cannot be presumed to be unaware of any of the aforementioned issues given his experience. It appears that he has disregarded his experience and knowledge, choosing instead to follow the directives of political authorities without weighing the right and wrong of the situations.
*Adapted from original article, “පත් කරලත් නැහැ පත් කරපු අය දන්නෙත් නැහැ අනුග්රාහකයන්ගේ මුදල්වලට වගකියන්නේ කවුද?” by Nishman Ranasinghe published on 29/10/2024.
