On December 2nd 2007 my article on rugby talk was titled Drugs - not a short cut to fame. I said “At the last ASIAD held in Colombo the testing for the use of banned substances was put into place by ARFU with the active support of the IRB. This testing has brought about a new entry into the rugby history of Sri Lanka with one of it’s players being found positive and as reported it has been the use of Cannabis. ‘Ganja’ as it was popularly known has and is being used in a social context as well as a medicine.

The hard fact however and whatever way you may want to argue; is the use of a banned substance. Whether it is by a habitual user or a one time mistakenly taken by an innocent will not help to quell the smoke that rises with the detection”.

Cannabis a mild substance sometimes used for its medicinal properties is yet a banned substance. It is virtually three years since this incident was reported and there have been more whispers about the use of stronger performance enhancement drugs. One has not heard of any constructive action taken after the report following the ASIAD of 2007. What was needed is to ensure that there is a deterrent to those who think there is a short cut to fame. The question is what has happened after the education that was done by the IRB specialist in 2007.

This is an area not only for the SLRFU but the Sports Council as well as the Ministry of Sports to be involved. It is not only the hard enhancers but other substances that sportsman take or are encouraged to take. These are not banned but taken over a period of time can lead to more dangerous complications. This includes taking such substances without the supervision of qualified medical personnel. It was in this backdrop that I heard of the intention of the CEO of the SLRFU making an announcement that if elected to the Union Council as its Vice President he will give his attention to enforcing a system to prevent the use of performance enhancing drugs. The IRB interest in this area dates back to 2002 , and since then its guidelines have been rewritten , revisited and amended many times to reflect the importance of keeping the game clean.

I asked Lasitha Gunratne about his plans and how he proposes to do it. His explanation was that he believes that what would be needed initially is around two to three million rupees and that this amount could be found. The SLRFU can allocate funds as well as there are people including corporates who would be willing to contribute for such an event. He also said that since rugby will be an Olympic sport the NOC to whom he has already spoken would be willing to assist. He said that he has initiated a dialog with IRB as well as ARFU towards implementing a system to prevent and reduce the number of players getting caught in this short term trap.

News is that Lasitha Gunaratne who had made known his intention of seeking office as Vice President of the SLRFU has not been successful in getting the acceptance of the Western Province Rugby Football Union. Yet the intention which is good needs to be followed up. It is a must that will help stifle accusations too. The Western Province has the majority as per the voting criteria of the new constitution. WP commands around 30 rights to say yes and their nominee will get elected. Therefore it will be Arjun Dharmadasa the man behind the development in Sabaragamuwa who will be the deputy to Asanga Seneviratne who will be the President.

Looking at the list of those who were proposed for consideration to the council it was disappointing to see Ravi Balasuriya the former president of the CR not getting the nod. As the new council will be working on the new constitution which allows “A” Division clubs to have its nominee Balasuriya can still be appointed, as he has shown interest to serve the game at the national level.

Similarly all is not all lost for the Present CEO of the SLRFU who came to the meeting as the representative of CH and FC who had also nominated him. He still could be the club representative at the council to carry on the work that he has done as well as proposed.

That is provided that he does not wish to continue in his present post as CEO. With one hurdle out of the way the winning post for an elected body is getting closer. It was not that the meeting at the Western Province did not have its own moments. Yet the objective of having an elected body seems to be safely on course.

Vimal Perera is a former Rugby Referee, coach and Accredited Referees Evaluator IRB