‘If clubs won’t play, they can go home’

By Harsha Amarasinghe  

Re-elected as the President of Sri Lanka Rugby (SLR), Rizly Illyas sent out stern warning to clubs 
that look to sabotage domestic rugby tournaments.  
Illyas dealt with a massive number of challenges in his first two years as the President of SLR which included a very public fallout with then Minister of Sports Namal Rajapaksa who was later forced to resign following anti-government protests.  
Further, certain teams opted not to take part in important tournaments organized by the SLR stating various reasons in an attempt to sabotage them.  
“There are eight top division clubs, some of them don’t want to play important tournaments. I am going to make it very clear to them, if they don’t wish to play, they can go home. So their players can join other teams and play. If the clubs don’t want to play, then what are they taking sponsorships for? Our council has decided that we’d play the tournament even with six teams,” Illyas told the media following the Annual General Meeting where he was re-elected uncontested as President of SLR.  
All office bearers were elected uncontested and will hold office until 2024.  
Despite the new beginning, SLR are once more expecting pressure from the Ministry of Sports with a gazette being lined up to appoint an interim committee for SLR.  
“Everyone is aware of the challenges we had to face in the last two years from them and we are expecting more of the same but me and my officials are not going to run away from this. We came through this system with over 37 years of experience, so we know what’s legal and what’s illegal,” Illyas added.  
Meanwhile, the SLR boss is keen on developing sevens rugby where Sri Lanka has the potential to win a medal at the Asia Games.  
“Obviously with Sevens we have a chance to win a medal at Asian Games and also qualify for the Olympic Games, but this requires a special focus on sevens players because if you look at other countries, their sevens players don’t play fifteens. We have to ensure that we give our sevens players the best opportunity to perform at the top level. We have the plan to bring the best out of them. All this while we had a tournament or two but in future we are hoping to make it five,” said Illyas.