• NSC Chair insists onus on stakeholders to avert sanction

National Sports Council (NSC) Chairperson Priyantha Ekanayake says he is hopeful that World Rugby (WR) will grant its approval to Sri Lanka to compete in the Asia Rugby (AR) Top 4 Series commencing next week.

He said that this should enable the ‘Tuskers’ to play against Korea (14 June), Hong Kong (22 June) and the UAE (4 July), without the trepidation of any sanction hanging over the country’s membership with the global body.

“We have already written to WR on this,” Ekanayake, a former Sri Lanka rugby skipper, told The Daily Morning Sports in a recent interview. “And I expect a positive response on this, because I believe World Rugby will not want to punish players for our governance crisis. Also, some of the things are within our control and some others are not in our control. This is by way of postponing the Court cases and so on and so forth.”

He mentioned that a committee has already been formed comprising representatives from WR, Asia Rugby (AR), NOC and the Sports Ministry of which he is its representative, to fulfill the tasks set forth by WR.

However, he said that the onus is on stakeholders of the current rugby administration, to not run afoul of the sport’s global governing body and adopt a new constitution, which could lead subsequently to the election of office bearers.

“According to the new sports regulations introduced by the Sports Minister, there will be a 90-day period to achieve this task,” he explained. “But I am also not so sure whether World Rugby will allow us to take that longer period to fulfill these tasks. So, once we decide on the date, then they (WR) will be more lenient on us.” 

He said the Sports Minister has been in consultation with them (WR) and hopes the Dublin-based body will grant Sri Lanka sufficient time to enable its national team to play in the impending tournament.

Ekanayake asserted the Working Task Force headed by Retired Senior Deputy Inspector General (SDIG) M. R. Latiff will liaise solely with the Sports Minister.

This is ahead of adopting a new constitution and creating the groundwork for the conduct of the delayed Annual General Meeting. The former dynamic loose forward stressed that WR had set out three tasks for Sri Lanka to fulfill in earnest and avoid any possible sanction going forward.

First task was to inquire into the formation of the Election Committee, do a due diligence on complaints received linked to the existence of paper clubs and insist that reports on the first two have already been submitted to WR.

He opined that the final task will be to adopt a constitution and hold the AGM based on the new constitution.

The former President of the Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union (SLRFU) – when it was known then, was of the opinion that the intention of World Rugby (WR) is to take the game to the length and breadth of this country.

He said that this has been the cornerstone of World Rugby’s reform agenda in instructing Sri Lanka Rugby (SLR) to amend its constitution. He also said that such a module could bring it in line with constitutions like those found in New Zealand, which places emphasis on the sport thriving in provinces from the true sense of the word.

The NSC Chairperson stated that such a mechanism will bar so-called Provincial Unions which exist only in name, from unfairly garnering votes at annual elections for once and for all.

Ekanayake firmly attests to the fact that the adoption of a new constitution has been placed on the agenda of SLR officials by WR, due to the consensus reached among stakeholders here, though he himself had not been part of it.

He said the process had hit a snag after the majority of the provincial unions agreeing to amend the constitution following talks with WR officials had gone back on their word and had started to stall it from taking shape.