Schools rugby grinds to a whistle stop
Certainly the schools rugby season is at crossroads. There is a lot at stake; Dharmaraja is looking for their maiden championship and Isipathana wants to avoid relegation. Yet the referees say that they have had enough of the nonsense. They do not want to get bullied by hooligans anymore.
Yesterday was supposed to be the conclusion of the schools league rugby competition but after the referees were adamant not to stand in at matches played by certain schools, namely St. Joseph’s, league contenders Dharmaraja and Isipathana, the five decisive matches of the competition were postponed.
Expressing his views from the Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union’s (SLRFU) perspective, its Secretary Rizly Illyaz told the Sunday Times that as long as the SLSRFA was of the mentality that they were a supreme entity in local and school rugby, under the purview of the Sports and Education ministries, problems will continue to haunt the schools rugby arena, despite the schools section’s annual pledge of an incident-free season.
“The SLSRFA has always kept the SLRFU away all the time. They only point the finger toward us when problems occur. They don’t invite us or any of our officials for their meetings, they are arrogant and eventually they have dragged school rugby into what it is today.
“As the main controlling body, the SLRFU should come forward at times when crucial decisions are made in terms of the game, but we are always sidelined by the SLSRFA for no valid reason. The SLRFU can handle such situations without letting them go out of control only if the SLSRFA considers us as its mother body. If the two Ministries call on us we will step in and take firm control of schools rugby. In a way I don’t find the Referees’ Society wrong at this point,” Illyaz said, adding that the SLRFU has a comprehensive blueprint for schools rugby, which they treat as a main aspect of their development programmes.
The ongoing schools rugby season has come to a sudden standstill with the referees deciding to pull out of games stating that they have lost faith and trust in the SLSRFA after many of them were subjected to physical harassment by spectators and at times team officials.
During the past five seasons, certain schools have even gone to the extent of seeking legal assistance when the SLSRFA failed to address certain disputed matters swiftly, especially at an end of a season, when teams face relegation. But the ongoing season has been a ruthless one, especially for the referees, who have been verbally or physically harassed at times by mobs.
Its not a whistle in the park to the referees anymore. - File pic
The latest incident occurred last Saturday when referee Charith Kodagoda was manhandled by spectators soon after the match between hosts St. Joseph’s College and Dharmaraja College at Longdon Place. This was after four referees received bans from the Sri Lanka Rugby Referees’ Society (SLRRS) ranging from two weeks to a year for various alleged offences, including negligence, poor game controlling and deliberately dragging the match beyond the full duration. After this incident the SLRRS, headed by Orville Fernando, stated that it has taken a decision not to officiate matches hosted by St. Joseph’s, Dharmaraja and Isipathana colleges, if spectators are allowed into the grounds.
As a result matches between St. Peter’s and Wesley at Bambalapitiya, Trinity and Isipathana at Pallekele, Kingswood and St. Anthony’s at Bogambara, Royal and Dharmaraja at the Royal Sports Complex and Science and St. Joseph’s at Mount Lavinia were put on hold.
A SLSRFA official told the Sunday Times that they are trying their best to negotiate with the SLRRS to come to a settlement but as of yesterday no change took place. The SLSRFA held a meeting with the Principals of all ten teams of the Division I ‘A’ segment who came to a conclusion that they are against the decision of the SLRRS to play matches behind closed doors. As a last resort the matter was brought to the Minster of Sports, Mahindananda Aluthgamage at Torrington but the meeting had taken place without the SLRRS head Orville Fernando, despite the head of the SLRFU and the SLSRFA, Asanga Seneviratne and Ranjith Chandrasekera showing up for the meeting.
“We rescheduled the meeting for Tuesday at 3.00 p.m. at the same place. We have sent a special notice to the SLRRS to attend the meeting and a final decision will be taken then,” Minister Aluthgamage told the Sunday Times.
When questioned, Orville Fernando revealed that he as the head of the SLRRS had a prearranged official programme with the visiting South African rugby referee Jonathan Kaplan at the same time of the meeting but he will definitely call on at the Ministry of Sports next Tuesday.
“It was an engagement I could not forego as it was official. And the meeting with the Minister was a suddenly arranged one. Yes they have given us time and of course I will attend the meeting on Tuesday,” Fernando stated, adding that inefficiency from the SLSRFA over the years has forced many top referees to give up the trade.
However former national player, coach and one-time SLRFU chief Dr. Maiya Gunasekara pointed his finger at the referees for not being up to standard and bringing the game into disrepute.
“Schoolboys are training very hard, foregoing academic commitments, to have a full, smoothly-run season. But what we experience is otherwise. The local rugby referees must be up to standard as the game has become more physical and faster than before.
“Referees can’t afford to make mistakes and the SLRRS has to prove their capability by running the game more professionally to justify the sacrifices made by the schoolboy players. There should be a comprehensive programme to train good referees. In cricket there is backup via a television umpire and a fourth umpire, I think we should seek the assistance of technology to make the game more vibrant. I was a player, coach and an administrator but I cannot accept the way the referees are behaving at present,” Dr. Gunasekara said.
But Hisham Abdeen, an all-time Sri Lankan rugby great who has won international repute as a player and coach, told the Sunday Times that all parties concerned should respect each other for the sake of rugby while negotiating a matter which is rather more sensitive than it appears.
“We all love the game. During our playing days we made it a point to respect the referees and shake hands with them despite the outcome of the game. The referees have only two eyes like other human beings and it’s unfair to harass them for the wrong calls they sometimes make. As players we have been subjected to unfair treatment by the referees in decision-making but we never argued with the referees or took matters beyond the field.
“Those were the days when all stakeholders respected each other. Today the game has improved in many ways but lacks respect. In the case of spectators, my view is that rugby or any game needs spectators. But they should be more disciplined and I believe spectators too need certain guidelines,” Abdeen said.
Meanwhile Ranjith Chandrasekera, the President of the SLSRFA revealed that the Minister of Sports has given him assurances of playing the remaining matches of the schools league, with responsibility of the spectators and referees coming under the control of the Ministry. Despite this development the Secretary of the SLSRFA, Susantha Mendis said if the situation remains the same, with referees refraining from officiating with spectators at matches hosted and played by St. Joseph’s, Dharmaraja and Isipathana, they will have to officially bring the schools league tournament to an end with six matches still to be played. On Thursday the SLSRFA offered an assurance to the SLRRS that the host team as well as the visiting team would take responsibility for their spectators with added security provided for the referees. But the SLRRS turned down the offer.
“We have come to a point where we cannot trust the SLSRFA anymore. They take time from Sunday to Friday to reach a settlement and they expect us to act fast. We will stand by our decision in matches conducted by the SLSRFA. But we have received official requests from certain schools to officiate friendly matches, with the assurance of adequate security for the referees and we will entertain them,” Referees chief Fernando revealed.
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