Provincial officials impede new rugby constitution

Chairman of the Interim Committee of the Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union (SLRFU) Dr Maiya Gunasekera charged that two officials attached to the Sabaragamuwa Province (Arjun Dharmadasa) and the Southern Province (Kumar Abeywardene) were responsible for putting a spoke in the wheel of getting the newly amended constitution ratified at the Special General Meeting (SGM) which was scheduled to be held on Jan 29.
Speaking to LAKBIMAnEWS Dr Gunasekera stated that both officials attached to the two provinces had expressed vehement opposition to the newly drafted constitution by the Attorney General (AG) and the duo were largely responsible for the delay caused in ratifying the said constitution on Jan 29.
For want of a quorum as per the regulations governing the Special General Meeting (SGM) he said the SLRFU Interim Committee was forced to put off it for this coming week in order to ratify the amendments by all the Provincial Unions attached to the SLRFU.
The SLFU Interim Committee Chairman said that when they had convened on Jan 29 for the SGM Kumar Abeywardene had even failed to turn up and had also failed to even send a representative from his Province while sending a letter through Arjun Dharmadasa instead, which alone shows their concern for the game in general in this country.
Asked what had been the cause of consternation for Dharmadasa and Abeywardene to object to its ratification Dr Gunasekera noted that both Provinces had refused to the criteria which bar officials who had not played either representative rugby for Sri Lanka or 'A' Division from holding office.
Commenting further on the severity of the situation, Dr. Gunasekera stressed that if the Provincial Unions fail to come to an agreement and ratify the new constitution shortly, it could spell doom for rugby in Sri Lanka.
He added that with the game's world controlling body - International Rugby Board (IRB) having already warned of dire repercussions of failing to hold an AGM before March 31 2010, the SLRFU was running out of time to hold an election of office bearers. Efforts to contact Kumar Abeywardene of the Southern Province Rugby Union proved futile while Arjun Dharmadasa of the Sabaragamuwa Province Rugby Union was out of the country.
(JK)