Former national coaches condemn threat against SL netball coach

• The alleged incident involved a man said to be a relative of a Sri Lankan player who reportedly entered the court area and verbally abused and threatened Coach de Alwis during the match 

By Susil Premalal

Former Sri Lanka national netball coach Trixie Nanayakkara has strongly condemned the alleged verbal abuse and threats directed at national team head coach Somitha de Alwis by a spectator during an international friendly match, describing the incident as completely unacceptable.

Speaking to the Daily Mirror, Nanayakkara said the responsibility for the incident, which occurred during Sri Lanka’s second friendly against New Zealand’s Lincoln University in Galle on July 2, must be accepted by the current administrators of the Netball Federation of Sri Lanka (NFSL).

The alleged incident involved a man said to be a relative of a Sri Lankan player who reportedly entered the court area and verbally abused and threatened Coach de Alwis during the match.

Nanayakkara, a former Sri Lanka international player, national team captain, national coach, and former President of the Netball Federation of Sri Lanka, described the episode as one of the most regrettable incidents in the history of Sri Lankan netball.

“An act of this nature by an outsider while an international match involving a foreign team is in progress is something that cannot be accepted under any circumstances,” she said. She warned that such incidents could discourage qualified coaches from accepting responsibility for preparing national teams for future international competitions.

“I will be watching closely to see what action the NFSL  and the Ministry of Sports take regarding this incident,” Nanayakkara added. She also expressed concern over the continued delay in conducting comprehensive medical and fitness tests for all players selected to the Sri Lanka national squad, despite earlier directives from the Ministry of Sports and the National Sports Council.

Meanwhile, internationally renowned coach Tilaka Jinadasa also criticized the circumstances surrounding the incident, stating that poor match management and failures in enforcing international netball competition protocols had allowed unauthorized individuals to gain access to the competition area.

Jinadasa, who guided Sri Lanka to two Asian Netball Championship titles and served for nearly a decade as Consultant Coach to the Brunei national netball programme, said the incident exposed weaknesses in the administration of the sport.

“I am deeply saddened by what happened. It sets a very bad example. Tomorrow someone else may do the same thing. It clearly shows the lack of experienced administrators in Sri Lankan netball,” Jinadasa said.

The incident has generated widespread discussion within the local netball community, with growing calls for stronger security measures and clearer governance at national team events ahead of the Asian Senior Netball Championship next month.