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Junior National ruggerite in passport red card
A Junior National Rugby squad player participating in the Junior Rugby Asiad was yesterday detained at the Singapore Airport after he was found to be travelling on his brother’s passport, perhaps accidently, officials said. They said the Isipathana school boy left the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) along with the squad of 25 but the passport mishap was not detected by local Immigration officials.
Schools Rugby Association President Ranjith Chandrasekera said he had been informed of the incident and arrangements were being made to bring the sportsman back home on the first available flight. He would be sent back as soon as possible since Sri Lanka is scheduled to take on host Singapore in the opener today.
Immigration Chief Nihal Ranasinghe said if it was a genuine mistake then the player would have to prove it on arrival at the BIA since he would be detained by the Immigration. His family or officials would have to rush to the BIA and produce his passport to justify his claims or else he would be detained further until investigations are completed, he said. “This appears to be a genuine slip by the officials at the BIA. The player and his brother may either be twins or they look alike.
We do not have a biometric scanning system at the BIA and officials at the Immigration desk depend only on the picture in the passport,” Mr. Ranasinghe said. He said he would probe the slip to prevent a re-occurrence, because sometimes it could be of a serious nature. Apart from Sri Lanka, the Junior Rugby Asiad includes teams from Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong.