Speaking to ThePapare SLSRFA representative and tournament secretary Gamini Sarathchandra mentioned that an inquiry was held on Monday. It was attended by the officials of the two schools including the masters in charge, coaches and also the referees association.
Earlier, Royal had made an official complaint against the conduct of the Isipathana players who had resorted to violent measures that went beyond the boundaries of the game in the official league encounter played on the 18th of May. Royal also were in hot water, for walking off before the final whistle was blown due to the above reason, as it goes against the rules of the tournament.
It was decided at the inquiry to delay the final verdict until Saturday(June 1), where both schools together with their representatives will meet again in Kandy with the head of the disciplinary committee Ranjith Chandresekara and a final decision will be taken on the matter.
Until then, the players who have been identified to have gone against the rule book will be allowed to play in the forthcoming encounter, and it will be up to the respective schools to take action on the matter, since the disciplinary committee verdict will be given after this week’s encounters.
The disciplinary committee has used the video footage, and also the reports of the referees which will be used in deciding the final outcome.
In terms of the incident where the Royalists walked out, reliable sources claim that the Royal camp had claimed to withdraw their players in best interest of the safety of the players in both schools and spectators alike, as any retaliation might have sparked a few nerves not only in the field but off the field as well, and could lead to being a valid justification.
The SLSRFA who have been slow to respond claim to be severely back –logged due to the court order sustained against some of its members over the Vidyartha incident last year. This has prevented key members from engaging in its activities thereby increasing the work load among other members; even the proverbial rulebook and its notorious absence could be linked to this.
It is also interesting to note, that a lot of incidents in the recent past have been due to short comings in the refereeing standards, as many decisions have been questionable leading to a lot of controversies especially in the schools rugby arena. Despite the obvious good work that some referees have been doing, there have been constant lapses that have led to huge hullabaloos which have given the referees a negative reputation.
