Rugby: SLRFU elections knocked on upon court injunction

In the midst of controversies pertaining to the Sports Regulation, which is under amendment, and pressure from international sports governing bodies and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the Ministry of Sports received another blow when the District Court of Colombo issued an enjoining order.   Upon a case filed by Nishantha Dias, the President of Wayamba Province Rugby Football Union (WRFU), the enjoining order prevents nominations being accepted or the holding the election of Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union (SLRFU).   The case was based on a notice dated June 5 issued by the Competent Authority in violation of the Constitution of the SLRFU.   “We have nothing against anybody – the Competent Authority or the Minister of Sports. What we are trying to say here is, we, the WPRU, an affiliation of SLRFU come under the International Rugby Board (IRB) or World Rugby. Our constitution, recognised by IRB, states clearly that an Annual General Meeting (AGM) should be held first before going in for an election or anything. The Ministry of Sports have clearly breached this clause putting rugby in Sri Lanka in a vulnerable position. They must understand the gravity of the decisions they make,” pointed out Dias.   On June 19, World Rugby or the IRB sent a letter addressed to the Minister of Sports, Navin Dissanayake asking for clarification by July 10 on the ‘issuance of two government gazettes that appear to impact on the governance of SLRFU.   The letter points out two aspects – “Government Gazette Notification No. 1907/22 dated March 25, 2015 directed the SLRFU (amongst other Federations) to call fresh nominations and for elections to be held before May 15, 2015 and Government Gazette Notification No. 1916/36 dated May 29, 2015 appointed Mr. K.D.S. Ruwanchandra, Director General of the Department of the Sports Development as the Competent Authority for Seventeen Sports Bodies including Rugby. Furthermore, the Competent Authority has been directed to convene and hold elections of the seventeen sports bodies”.   The enjoining order will prevent the Ministry of Sports from receiving or holding an election of SLRFU.   However according to reliable sources nominations have been received by the Ministry of Sports, which has set the deadline at 2.00pm on Friday (26).   But K.D.S. Ruwanchandra, the Director General of Ministry of Sports and the Competent Authority appointed by Minister Dissanayake to oversee 17 local sports associations and federations until AGMs are held, denied the fact.   “We have to oblige the enjoining order issued by the District Court of Colombo. We will not do anything until the next 14 days and calling in nominations will depend on the future progress of the case and court rulings,” he stated.   According to the letter of World Rugby, it points out the possible outcome Sri Lanka could expect by drawing a correspondence with Gamini Lokuge, the Minister of Sports in 2009, who appointed an interim committee to SLRFU.   This resulted SLRFU being suspended by the IRB until an election was held in accordance with the SLRFU constitution.   “World Rugby By-Law 10 (e) states: A Union may be suspended or expelled from World Rugby membership pursuant to World Rugby Bye-Laws and/or Regulations if state authorities interfere in its affairs in such a manner that: (i) it may no longer be considered as fully responsible for the organisation of rugby related matters in its territory; (ii) in the opinion of Council or the Executive Committee it is no longer in a position to perform its constitutional and regulatory tasks in an appropriate manner.,” the letter from World Rugby states.   “What we fear is of being banned from IRB, which is the last thing the Sri Lankan rugby fraternity would not want to see. It will affect the whole process -- the structure, development, competitions and more importantly the funds from IRB. All are supporting our cause. What we need is to enlighten the higher authorities,” Dias stressed.