Vithanage saga enters new stage

The Kandy District Court has issued a stay order on the two year ban imposed by the Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union (SLRFU) on Kandy SC and Sri Lankan player Chamara Vithanage. This was after Vithanage was found guilty by the Disciplinary Committee of the SLRFU of assaulting referee Pradeep Fernando following the inter school clash between Kingswood and Trinity.

Chief Executive Officer of the SLRFU Dilroy Fernando said: “Our lawyers are yet to notify us of the stay order. But Vithanage has come out publicly and stated that he has been training for three weeks, despite the fact that the ‘Stay Order’ was only issued last week. Thus obviously he has violated the ban imposed on him.”

When asked about the interim ban imposed on Kasun De Silva by the International Rugby Board (IRB) for failing a dope test at the Asiad, Fernando said the IRB has yet to inform the SLRFU of its decision following the appeal made by De Silva.

Many insiders are of the view that the Referees society will not take the stay order on Vithanage lying down. They said that referees may well voice safety concerns if Vithanage is playing as several eye witnesses positively identified Vithanage as one of Fernando’s assailants.

Meanwhile, speculation has come to an end as to when the sevens tournament will begin. President of the SLRFU Nimal Lewke speaking to The Sunday Times said; “We have reduced the number of tournaments from three to two. Thus the first tournament which will feature only the top twelve clubs will start in Kandy on February 16. The next tournament will be held in the first weekend of March in Colombo and will be open to any club which wants to participate.

And now that we know the dates for the Asian Championship, the Caltex League rugby tournament for clubs will commence in the first weekend of May. We plan on finishing the league tournament, the Clifford Cup knockout tournament and the Presidents Trophy championship by the end of August.”

The Asian Rugby Football Union (ARFU) has sent a letter to the SLRFU stating that the Singer Sevens cannot be called an IRB Satellite event. And it has also been well documented that Sri Lanka is on the look out for a foreign coach to work with national coach Rob Yule. When asked about these two issues, Lewke said in conclusion; “I have already written to Ross Mitchell of the ARFU for clarification on the Singer Sevens tournament. On our end we are looking for the original documents. The IRB cannot pull out just like that.

The reason why we have the Singer Sevens in September is because matches to qualify for the World Cup Sevens are held the following month. Thus our tournament is an ideal platform for the World Cup.. As for a foreign coach, we are looking about three candidates and will pick one by the end of this month as the selected individual has to start working with Yule and the team by mid or late February. We are also waiting for reports from Sanath Martis and Ananda Kasthiriarachchi before selecting a Development team which will tour India.”