Illyas puts former SLR admins’ mishaps on Ombudsman’s radar
Sri Lanka’s inaugural ‘Sports Ombudsman’, Chulananda Perera, will be one that is tougher than it is on the field, with former
Sri Lanka Rugby (SLR) President Rizly Illyas making a fiery complain against his predecessors. In his official complaint, dated June 13, Illyas has brought several allegations against officials who held positions at SLR, including President, Vice President, Secretary and Executive Director, from the period of 2012 to 2020.
“The actions committed during this period were never investigated by the Minister of Sports during that period which created no deterrents to prevent these from happening over a period of time,” Illyas has outlined in his two-page document addressed to the Sports Ombudsman of the Ministry of Sports.
The letter, with the subject of ‘Violation of Immigration and Emigration Act and Financial Misappropriations’, has brought up the once debated issue of fielding foreign players in the national team, which was later found ineligible by World Rugby. Sri Lanka Rugby was found guilty of fielding Fijian nationals Emori Waqavulagi, Joseph Dunn and Apisai Naqaliva during 2014, and were fined Sterling Pounds 50,000.
“During 2012 and 2018, a serious violation of the country’s Immigration and Emigration Act occurred when three Fijian nationals were fraudulently provided with Sri Lankan passports to represent Sri Lanka. This violation is a serious offense, and all officials involved should be suspended from holding any office in any sport until your investigation is completed,” the letter adds.
After SLR decided not to appeal the charges brought up by World Rugby (WR), effectively admitting to their guilt, the fine was deducted proportionately over the following years from the WR grants provided for development projects and programmes. With cut down grants and a fading kitty, SLR was forced to limit its development programmes while one of the three Fijians, Emori Waqavulagi, who was later picked by his native country to feature in the World 7s Series, was denied entry to the competition by WR after his registration already indicated as a Sri Lankan national.
“I request that you commence an investigation into this matter, as the officials who committed these acts continue to hold positions within SLR. The officials involved were SLR President Asanga Seneviratne, Vice President Lasitha Gunaratne, Secretary Nalin de Silva, and Executive Director Rohan Gunaratne,” the letter, sent via registered post on Friday further states.
The letter goes on to highlight SLR’s colossal debt of Rs. 35 million during the period of 2012 to 2018, under Seneviratne, while outlining on ‘several decisions’ made by the then SLR Council.
“The decisions incurred costs without having necessary funds, most projects and tournament were conducted on credit, leaving the succeeding President (Lasitha Gunaratne) to deal with a negative bank balance”.
Illyas has sought action against the allegations of ‘irresponsible financial management’, which he has pointed out to the ‘lack of legislation to address such issues. Illyas, who took over SLR from Gunaratne in 2020 as its President, stated that ‘no deterrent was in place to prevent subsequent presidents from repeating the same mistakes’.
“This mismanagement severely hampered the efforts of the incoming leadership. It’s crucial to implement legislation ensuring that all expenses are accounted for and that outgoing presidents are held responsible for any financial mismanagement,” Illyas, who took over with a further Rs. 20 million debt from Gunaratne in 2020, said.
“Given the combined financial mismanagement by the two former presidents, which incurred up to Rs. 55 million, an investigation is imperative. A forensic audit should be conducted to uncover all details”.
Illyas has urged the Sports Ombudsman to initiate an investigation within 14 days, after which, he revealed that different measures would be taken, if his official complaint goes unheeded on untreated.
“I will seek legal action, with the same allegations against the same individuals. I have faith in the Sports Ombudsman that he would conduct a thorough and fair investigation of these gross violations of the country’s law and mismanagement of funds of SLR. They should be prevented from holding office at other governing bodies, given their record of incompetence,” he added.
The letter has been copied to the Sports Minister, as well as Kanapathipillai Mahesan, the Secretary of the Ministry of Sports and Dr. Shemal Fernando, the Director General of Sports. It is likely that the four recipients are yet to receive the correspondence, as they were sent through registered post on Friday morning.
This development took place on Friday, while SLR is under the observation of Dr. Shemal Fernando as its Competent Authority, following a gazette notification issued by the Minister of Sports on May 29, temporarily suspending the registration of four sport bodies — Sri Lanka Rugby, Sri Lanka Cycling Federation, Sri Lanka Automobile Sports and Sri Lanka Netball Federation. This decision was taken as a ‘temporary mechanism to proceed with administrative and other required activities of the four bodies’, who failed to call and conduct its elections in accordance to the Sports Law No. 25 of 1973. Illyas’ sudden allegation comes at a time when SLR is running through a transition period.
“As SLR could not conduct their election AGM on or before May 31, the gazette was issued appointing me as the competent authority to carry out the election process. As agreed by parties and stakeholders of SLR, the draft constitution will be presented at a Special General Meeting after issuing notice in accordance to the present constitution of SLR. The stakeholders will act in accordance to their rights under the constitutional provisions at the said Special General Meeting,” the current Competent Authority of SLR, Dr. Fernando told reporters.
Interestingly Dr. Fernando is one of the recipients of Illyas’ letter in which the immediate Past President of SLR, Nalin de Silva, who was elected Deputy President under Illyas, is also being alleged of wrongdoing or aiding to misappropriation. Lasitha Gunaratne, who took over from Asanga Seneviratne, headed SLR prior to Illyas, and Rohan Gunaratne has been functioning as the Executive Director for over a decade since the then Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union scrapped the Chief Executive Officer position nearly 15 years ago.
Chulananda Perera, a retired experienced public service administrator, was appointed the country’s first-ever Sports Ombudsman by the Minister of Sports Harin Fernando on May 16, under the Sports Law, No. 25 of 1973 and special provisions of the Extraordinary Gazette Notification No. 2382/32.
The Sports Ombudsman is vested with powers to conduct impartial investigations into complaints by those who have been affected by the decisions or actions of the various registered sports associations and federations in Sri Lanka. The Ministry added that the aggrieved party must inform the Sports Ombudsman in writing within 14 days of the decision by the sports association or federation concerned, during which period the Sports Ombudsman is tasked with providing recommendations on the incident to the subject minister through the Director General of Sports.