Arresting rugby violence
Recent scuffles at the end of school rugby matches have cast a murky pall over a sport which is loved and renowned in the country for its friendly competition and passionate following. This week the Sunday Times set out to discover the causes of these ugly incidents and what could be done to prevent their occurrence.
 I think most of these problems arise because of poor refereeing. The quality of lower division refereeing is very poor. It has nothing to do with anything between schools. They make these mistakes on crucial plays and create tension. - Denver Perera (Company director and former school ruggerite) |
 Officials should look at providing crowd security. It will also help protect the referee. What happens is in the crowd you get those who know and don’t know about the game, and they get excited and make their conclusions. - M.J Mushtaq (Current referee and former rugby player) |
 I don’t think there is anything school or rugby officials can do to stop it. It happens with the in-game pressure; players, coaches and supporters get excited. Most often these fights are started by teams which can’t take up defeat. So there is nothing you can do; it’s up to them to be sensible and play in the right spirit. - Pubudu Chammika (School rugby player) |
 Bad refereeing is the reason these things happen. But players should know to respect and obey their decisions. Those who don’t should be punished with bans and suspensions. - |
 It is the responsibility of the Master-in-Charge and the Coach to keep their players under control. The home team should also provide security and spectators and players should be banned if they get violent. - Saman Chinthaka (Assistant referee) |
 The best way to tackle this problem is by having appropriate security. They should exert control because I don’t think school officials can do it. The crowds are so big and it is difficult to spot offenders. School rugby officials though should review footage if there are fights and take proper action. - Sameera de Silva (Tour guide and former school ruggerite) |
 The focus should be placed more on sportsmanship to solve the problem. But now it is a win-at-all-costs attitude. The referees though are sometimes not prepared for their job. They may be good but they are not prepared and that leads to violence. But still this violence is not acceptable. - Sanath Martis (Leading rugby coach) |
|
Follow @timesonlinelk
comments powered by Disqus