Rugby wins as Court dismisses move to halt election

Flashback when it was happy days for Sri Lanka

Rugby in Sri Lanka won a landmark ruling in its favour when the Supreme Court yesterday threw out a Petition or Motion filed by Roshan Deen and his supporters that was aimed at preventing an election of office-bearers of the sport scheduled to be held on Wednesday (October 8).

The Daily Mirror exclusively reported on Thursday (October 2) that World Rugby had in a letter to the Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka threatened to ban the island from the world fraternity should the election of office-bearers be postponed once again while also noting the political squabbles outside the sport.

The supporters of Deen were named as Kavinda Jayasena, Denzil Darling, Shamendran Devadasan, Velathage Jayanetti, Chandrakantha Mehendranathan and Lakmal Jayawardena.

“The unanimous decision marks a critical milestone in the ongoing legal proceedings surrounding the governance, reform and future of rugby in Sri Lanka”, Sri Lanka Rugby said in a media Statement.

The Statement further said the Petitioners in filing the motion to halt the October 8 election was “a clear underhand attempt to derail the AGM (election of office bearers) and disrupt the sport’s democratic process”.

It further stated that the Court of Appeal had highlighted the “strategic importance of rugby’s development and Sri Lanka’s growing role in the global arena.

“It is pertinent to observe that while Sri Lanka may not yet rival global rugby giants such as the (New Zealand) All Blacks or (South Africa) Springboks, the nation’s rugby programme stands at a crucial juncture of its growth and development”, the Statement added.

The Statement also quoted the Court of Appeal noting the interest taken by World Rugby to ensure Sri Lanka stays among the international rugby community after making the necessary changes to the governance of the sport by way of a new Constitution as demanded by World Rugby.

Former Sri Lanka rugby Forwards Lasitha Gunaratne and Pavitra Fernando are rivals in the running for the top post at Sri Lanka Rugby which has been minus a set of elected office-bearers for nearly two years.