• Warned to fulfil conditions or face sanctions

Sri Lanka Rugby (SLR) during an emergency council meeting held on Friday (26) laid down three conditions for Kandy Sports Club (KSC) to address what it called serious concerns relating to match official and player safety arising from last week’s A Division League fixture between Kandy SC and CH & FC in Nittawela.

SLR President Pavithra Fernando, speaking to The Sunday Morning Sports, stated that a mandatory security plan drafted by the game’s local controlling body would henceforth require KSC to submit a comprehensive match-day security plan detailing measures to safeguard match officials, visiting teams, and all participants at every future fixture at its home venue Nittawela.

The second condition has been the conditional use of Nittawela, which entails that subject to the review and formal acceptance of the security plan by the SLR Tournament Committee, KSC will be permitted to continue hosting matches at their home base.

The third condition has been strict sanctions for any further breach, if any, including that in the event that the safety of match officials or visiting teams is compromised during any future fixture, SLR will impose immediate sanctions. This may include playing the remainder of the season without spectators at Nittawela or hosting matches at an alternative venue where adequate protection and security standards can be assured.

Fernando stated that SLR further expected Kandy SC to identify and ban any individuals found to have engaged in conduct that threatened safety or brought the game into disrepute.

He added that all clubs must act decisively to safeguard rugby’s core values of respect, discipline, and fair play 24/7, emphasising that SLR remained committed to upholding World Rugby match-day safety obligations and ensuring that all competitions were conducted in a secure, professional, and respectful environment for players, officials, and supporters alike.

The SLR head further maintained that the decisions reached at the emergency council meeting were unanimously approved by all members and representatives of clubs present. 

When contacted, Kandy SC President Mahesh Weerasinghe said that they had been officially informed by SLR of the decisions reached at Friday’s meeting.

He said they would do their best to fulfil the conditions set forth by the governing body but sought more clarity on the performance of match officials from both the Sri Lanka Society of Rugby Football Referees and SLR, which he stressed was the root cause for the mayhem.

The match between Kandy SC and CH on 21 December in Nittawela ended in a 24-all draw but not before a howler involving on-field referee Gihan Yatawara deprived the defending champions of a certain try and allegedly led to fisticuffs among a section of the crowd after the game.

The failure to reach consensus between the on-field referee and Television Match Official (TMO) Anil Jayasinghe on the validity of the controversial try was also a bone of contention which ultimately contributed to the discord amongst Kandy SC faithful.