April 23, Colombo (LNW): Now, Sri Lanka’s rugby story has reached a peak of optimism, with the country’s hopes of qualifying for the 2027 World Cup, second in Asia. It is true that this qualification presents a crucial opportunity to fight for a place among the world’s best, standing at the forefront of the global rankings. Had Sri Lanka been granted consistent chances to compete within Asia earlier, perhaps this moment could have come much sooner.
In the past, Asia has been seriously blocking Sri Lanka’s entry into the competition arena. Sri Lankan athletes were forced to participate in the Asian Games only after receiving some kind of threatening call from the Asian Olympics. As a result, the Asian administration was forced to revise the prearranged match schedules and make adjustments to accommodate the inclusion of the Sri Lankan team and its players.
After that victory, which Sri Lankan rugby players and coaches achieved for the national team with their hard work, the position of number 40 in the world rankings on April 14 has changed. After the excellent victory against Malaysia, it has reached 39th place in the latest rankings on April 21. That victory is due to the
dedication and hard work of Sri Lankan rugby players and coaches, who have paid their own expenses, with the desire to bring victory to the country instead of those garbage heaps, despite all the above influences.
Behind the idea of revenge and protest mentioned earlier, people who have had bad experiences with rugby in Sri Lanka have been able to deal with bosses in Asia because Sri Lanka has not punished them for their mistakes. Just think about it. Do those who brought disgrace to Sri Lanka, forcing the country to pay a £50,000 fine and then chose to cover that penalty annually using funds meant for the development of Sri Lankan rugby truly love the nation or the sport?
Do those who handed out a 55 million rupee loan to Sri Lanka rugby without any transparency or proof of expenditure really care about the game? No matter how much we talk about the above-mentioned people being chosen to appease the anger towards Sri Lanka because Sri Lanka did not vote for that person, with the help of Sri Lanka when the Asian president was appointed, it is clear that the current politics in Sri Lanka are working as one with the aforementioned unholy alliance that is not favorable to Sri Lanka.
The Asia President is saying that if Sri Lanka does not change the rugby constitution and work to give more power to the A-division clubs, rugby will be banned. In our country, from government officials to politicians, this talk is accepted from above and, without even considering the laws of Sri Lanka, they say ‘yes’ to the Asia President. They stand up for it. Now, the Asia President is building his argument regarding A sports clubs by economically assessing the expenses incurred for these sports club competitions. In response, don’t the Sri Lankan authorities point out the properties and liquor sales licenses that A sports clubs
have obtained under government tax concessions to earn money? Why can’t it be said that the government has already created a great environment for them to pump up the economic energy that will enable them to rise as A sports clubs?
Especially for those with diplomatic and political experience, it should be clear that the pressure exerted by the Asia President is a direct attempt to undermine the internal democracy of a constitutionally established organization, formed in accordance with national law. Isn’t it deeply unpleasant that, in a country where the roles of bureaucracy and politics extend far beyond the realm of sports, those in power are not working to prevent this destruction but are instead empowering the very individuals responsible for it?
Is it not possible for even the Minister of Sports, a Chartered Accountant, to understand from an economic analysis that the A sports clubs in Sri Lanka are in a particularly great position and that they have been able to achieve a position that other sports clubs cannot challenge to rise to that position through the privileges and economic taxes they have received?
We know that after some time, the Sri Lions Sports Club was promoted to Group A. For that, we were the ones who were primarily involved in a militant writing and also intervened to arrange a meeting between the head of that sports club and the
current Director General of Rugby Authority. While this wealthy A sports club was in a hurry to provide the sponsorship needed for a Sri Lankan team to go to an international competition, until Sri Lions came forward, the main argument was that the Sri Lions did not have a playing field for these A sports clubs to compete,
and that sports club was prevented from being given the opportunity to play in the A sports tournament.
We do not know whether the Sri Lions will confess that true history today. But no one with a conscience in the rugby field can forget this short-term history, and if anyone wants to read that history, they can dig up the very notes we left in order to bring justice to the Sri Lions.
The Sports Minister must also be assessing the amount spent by these A sports clubs every year. He must be looking at those prices with sensitivity to his profession. However, it is regrettable that the Sports Minister has not paid attention to the concessions provided to them to earn money and the difficulties faced by non-A sports clubs in Sri Lanka in terms of sports. Rather than forcing the oppressed to walk in the shoes of the powerful when it comes to administering sports in Sri Lanka, the true responsibility of a sports politician should be to bridge the divide between the oppressed and the oppressor—creating a pathway for genuine talent to rise and flourish within the sporting arena.
For example, Sri Lions have finished a season that has proven that they are worthy of Group A. So, now the composition of Division A should be limited to eight teams from next year and the last number of Division A should be relegated to Division B. Such situations exist in a sport like cricket as well, and what happened to SSC Sports Club this time can be taken as the best example. It should not be the government’s sports policy to create the necessary legal framework to permanently accept a sports club at the elite level, considering the costs incurred, but the competition created through that competition. Therefore, we strongly believe that it is important to create the necessary background for the
further expansion of rugby. Instead of a system that permanently secures that status in A sports clubs, it is necessary to shake up that upper caste and constantly create an open space for A level rugby in Sri Lanka based on the quality and capabilities of the game. This time, the Sri Lions themselves can be used as an example.
In that way, the instability of Group A and the possibility of promotion to A will also be a factor in increasing the competitiveness of Groups A and B, which will increase the competitiveness of rugby in Sri Lanka. With these policy issues as the sports vision of a government, a government should not act to the extent of nudly dancing with thieves, except for focusing on maintaining the game of rugby in Sri Lanka and informing it to Asia. From the moment of Namal’s stupid behavior, we have been operating the media from a policy that has responded against it. As an extension of that, we have also stood up for the Sri Lions and fought to achieve that status.
Therefore, we will continue to advocate for the urgent need to secure financial resources to expand rugby across the nation—leveraging the powers granted under existing provincial legislation. At the same time, we demand the recovery of the £50,000 paid as a penalty from the officials responsible for that decision, and the prosecution of those accountable for the unaccounted Rs. 55 million debt. Sooner or later, the political machinery of this government will have to answer a critical question: Is it truly patriotism to align with those individuals, to seek their advice on the sport, and to protect their interests over the nation’s?
Our presence is a headache for some A clubs because the targets of the allegations are members of those clubs. We observe that the current constitutional amendment has had the effect of removing the risk of fraud from the traditional A-class gentlemen in such a situation, and of enabling those involved to become the pets of the Asian President. Rather than allowing that, it is important to establish an open environment in which rugby competition is not determined by talent.
To put it more clearly, the competition as A sports clubs should be limited to eight teams, and a system should be established whereby the first place in Group B is brought to Group A every year and the last place in Group A is brought to Group B. The upper caste of sports clubs that are classified as A should not be protected and given eternal elitism.
Instead of making the Asia President understand the current situation in the country, the government officials and politicians are succumbing to the pressures exerted by the Asia President and his role as a member of the World Executive Council. Instead of truly loving Sri Lankan rugby, the Asia President has chosen to
achieve something like creating immunity for A-level clubs.
If he really loves rugby in Sri Lanka, what he is doing is coming forward to save Sri Lanka from the £50,000 fine that is stalling the development of rugby in Sri Lanka. Considering the irresponsibility of the officials who committed the offense, he is
advising them to be banned from participating in the rugby administration. However, what has happened is that the Asia President has given Asian responsibilities to the President and secretary of that administration.
Also, if the voting rights are granted taking into account the costs, etc., the Asia President should agree to give two votes to Japan, the rugby giant in Asia, within the Asian election system. It is a sad situation that the Asia President, who does not consider how much commitment Japan, the representative of rugby that brings
glory to Asia, is making nationally and economically to keep rugby in that position, and does not consider the contribution to rugby in Sri Lanka, and does not suspect that the interest and love shown towards Sri Lankan A sports clubs is strange, considering the contribution made to rugby in Sri Lanka. It is truly a national tragedy.
Since the tenure of Namal Rajapaksa as Sports Minister, it has been the judiciary that has stood as the true protector of rugby in Sri Lanka. The sport has faced countless obstacles ranging from unholy alliances to interference by government officials and political actors.
That the Asia President has now finally acknowledged and expressed respect for the rulings of our judiciary marks a significant victory not just for rugby, but for the rule of law in Sri Lanka. But even though the Asia President says that it is not
civilized and ethical to oppose the rule of law or its nature in a country, it is incredibly shameful for Sri Lankan government officials to stand by their views by trampling on Sri Lankan law whenever the Asia President expresses an opinion. It is truly a curse for a country to have government officials who, at the very least, change the agreements they have reached before the Honorable Court without informing the Court and obtaining its permission after a letter from the Asia President, and who do not even consider that this seriously offends the law.
We also say one thing to the provincial associations that have power. If the opportunity to come to power after a court decision is given to the officials appointed according to the existing constitution, there are many responsibilities that must be fulfilled. The first of which is to punish those responsible for the fine of 50,000 pounds. The money must be recovered from those people. If an agreement is reached to give some privilege to A sports clubs, as Asia and the world say, then the A sports clubs should be made indefinite and the system of only sports clubs owned by two bar owners should be the permanent heirs.
We would like to emphasize again and again that there should be a constant change between Division A and B, and that by bringing Division A to eight Divisions, those groups should not remain in the same place forever, with the champions of Division B always having the possibility of entering Division A, and the last team in Division A should be allowed to advance to Division B.
The system that protects the upper caste should be abolished. Efforts should be made to create talented players and create excellent teams at the provincial level. In all these bad situations, it should also include creating a better professional level for the Sri Lankan rugby players and the coaches who guided them, who were raising the activities of the unholy alliances that were making the Sports Minister, who does not know about rugby, understand that rugby in Sri Lanka has become a dead sport. The efforts made by provincial associations to date should be increased four to five times to bring the rugby talents scattered throughout Sri Lanka to the national level.
We should think about a program that will produce rugby talents from all corners of Sri Lanka through a program that blends the strength and energy of the genetic heritage of children from families engaged in various strenuous occupations, from
plantation workers to miners to farmers who work with the earth, with the country’s rugby game.
*Adapted from original article, “‘ඒ‘ යනු වෙනස් විය හැකි දෙයක් බව හැඟෙන රගර් ක්රීඩාවක් ලංකාවේ අනාගතයට අවශ්යය කර තිබේ” by Nishman Ranasinghe published on 23/04/2025.
