April 03, Colombo LNW: A media briefing was held at the Cinnamon Grand Hotel to inform the media about the upcoming under-85kg rugby tournament between New Zealand and Sri Lanka, which will bring a lot of valuable experience to Sri Lankan rugby. The announcement of the press conference was kept secret from the media, as the officials involved in the case of Sri Lanka being fined £50,000 were currently working together.The current ministry has also taken no steps to meet the needs of those involved in this incident and has accepted a constitutional amendment to make the case accordingly. Despite this, the Sports Minister, in order to please his government’s voters, spoke loudly in Parliament about the illegal transfer of foreigners to Sri Lanka, who were fined £50,000 as a result of Baby’s rugby, and also criticized Namal Rajapaksa.
However, the officials responsible for the incident have not taken any action regarding the offense to date. The current government has followed the same approach. A prime example of this is the appointment of the Chief Executive Officer of the previous wrongful administration as the Chairman of the committee tasked with advising the Minister. Furthermore, the offense has not been recognized as a violation of the Immigration and Emigration Act, and the Secretary of the same administration has now been assigned a key role in rugby governance.
The key priority is to gain the trust of the Asia Rugby President while ensuring the involvement of the chairman of the offending administration, who also serves as the President of Asia Rugby’s High-Performance Training and Tournaments. Given that no punishment or ban was imposed for the incident, it is widely believed that the Minister will take no further action against Babyla or the officials who played rugby for them, beyond the statement made by Namal Babies.For the benefit of rugby fans who have some knowledge of the rugby fraternity, it is worth noting that the Asian official, who has faced no consequences for his wrongdoing and is instead enjoying privileges, has also managed to secure a role in this event.
If the Minister places his trust in this individua someone who merely claims to know rugby while being fully aware of the crisis it will only highlight the extent to which certain individuals are attempting to feign innocence.
Congratulations to the Sri Lankan Under-85kg team and the tournament. If the Minister possesses the wisdom to acknowledge that he is endorsing a betrayal of trust and conscience in the rugby field, it will have significant implications for the future of the sport in the country.
