Rugby set for take-off in October with 7s
By A Special Correspondent
COLOMBO – Sri Lanka Rugby (SLR) powered by a new-look council have drawn up a comprehensive plan to return to rugby by end of October with a couple of Sevens tournaments pending approval from the health ministry.
Having roped in a reputed entrepreneur Ranjith Weerasinghe as Director of SLR 7s and an aviation expert Kevin Herft as Executive Director, rugby is poised to take off by adhering to strict health regulations, which has been documented in a paper prepared by Dr. Namith Sankalpana, Chief Medical Officer of SLR.
The draft based on World Rugby guidelines on return to rugby, covers four special areas such as home and practice environment, administrative sector, match venue and match day, will be up for discussion with all stakeholders of the sport including heads of clubs and schools at a workshop at the Sports Ministry auditorium on Thursday (17). Thereafter it will be submitted to the Health Ministry through the Sports Ministry to get the green light for rugby to resume.
“Our priority is to get rugby started. We are not planning any international level tournaments because World Rugby and Asia Rugby haven’t really given us the tournament schedule. As at now our priority is to get rugby started and lay the groundwork so that our systems will work over the next two years. There is lot of work that needs to be done in the provincial level, women’s rugby development and getting the Sevens game prominence. For the moment we are not even looking at international rugby because we are not very clear when it’s going to start,” said Nazeem Mohamed, SLR deputy president and tournament committee chairman at a press conference.
“What we want to do for future of rugby will be discussed on 17th with all stakeholders. We will take this document to the sports ministry and the health authorities. Once they give us the green light that we can go ahead, only then we can start,” reiterated SLR general secretary Jude Dmithri.
Unveiling its action plan, which contains four major competitions, SLR President Rizly Illyas was positive of changing the face of the game in the country.
“From the inception, I wanted to have a change in all our activities. As an initiative, I got my team which will work indefatigably towards achieving the goals. We have some strategic plans segregated among my team members who will strive hard in developing the game to the next level,” said Illyas.
“While preparing our domestic tournament calendar, we are also in the process of doing the spade work in formulating the documents to meet the Sports Minister to get his blessings and support. We are pretty confident he will not only help us, but also guide us on the right path,” added Illyas.
So far Sri Lanka Cricket and the Football Federation of Sri Lanka have managed to come out of the competition drought and resume its domestic competitions following strict health guidelines after producing its own recommendations to the relevant authorities. SLR hopes to be the third major sport governing body in the country to resume its domestic competitions.
“We have already gathered proper information and covered almost all areas before coming out with our domestic competition line-up. We have put in place committees to oversee those important areas and have appointed Christopher Jordashe as ‘COVID Director’. The upcoming workshop is to exchange ideas and suggestions and gather everyone’s support to give a comprehensive draft of guidelines to the higher authorities,” he added.
If all goes according to plan, Mohamed revealed that plans are afoot to revive the domestic competition with a two-leg Sevens tournament in Colombo and the Southern Province. This competition is expected to include teams from all eight ‘A’ division clubs and six from the women’s division.
SLR also has plans to revive the Under-24 15s tournament. The main event of SLR’s calendar, the Dialog Rugby League, has been slotted for February 2021, and will be played with a revised format for 11 weeks. The fourth tournament on the cards will be the Dialog Clifford Cup Knockout Tournament.
“In the League, all eight teams will play each other in the first round and after completion the top four teams will play for the ‘Cup’ while the bottom four teams will play for the ‘Plate’. With the intention of popularising the game in the outstation, we are planning to play the remaining two legs of the local Sevens Series in Kandy and Radella,” said Mohamed.
-ENCL