Minister blames NOCSL for rugby ban

By Susil Premalal
Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe charged that it was the actions of the National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka that had resulted in a ban being imposed on Sri Lanka Rugby (SLR). 
“The NOCSL unnecessarily wrote to International Olympic Committee claiming that there was undue political influence on the administration of Sri Lanka Rugby (SLR),” the Minister said at a media briefing yesterday.

“They have no right or reason to have written such a communication. Their duty is to take up any issues they have with the sports minister first, which they blatantly ignored. It is because of this that we have been banned by World Rugby (WR),” he said.
“They need to take responsibility for this.” 
Officials from WR and Asia Rugby (AR) arrived in the island to discuss the way forward for SLR after it was banned, and they are expected to meet District and Provincial Associations as part of their fact-finding mission. 
“WR and AR have stated that some of the associations can be considered as ‘paper-clubs’ and therefore they will meet coaches and other stakeholders to look into this,” the Minister added. 

The Minister also said that he will ensure that Sri Lanka’s Men’s and Women’s rugby teams will participate in the upcoming Asian Games, and the ban would not hinder that. 
“I believe that after this fact finding mission, the ban that has been placed on SLR will be lifted in due course,” Ranasinghe added. 
“All these issues are simply because of the actions of the NOCSL,” the minister reiterated.