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Wednesday, 22 July 2020 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Lasitha Gunaratne (left) congratulates Rizly Ilyas
– Pic by Nimalsiri Edirisinghe
By Shamseer Jaleel
Former Royal, CR & FC and national XV a side player and current President of Sri Lanka Rugby (SLR) Lasitha Gunaratne pulled out of the race for the top position at Sri Lanka Rugby (SLR) Annual General Meeting (AGM) which will take place next month.
This will result in a ‘one horse race’ for the current Deputy President of SLR and former Peterite and Peterson SC player, Rizly Ilyas to the top position for 2020/2021.
Earlier the AGM was scheduled for May 2020 which was postponed plus the 26 vote carrier, Western Province Rugby Football Union (WPRFU) votes were rejected due to non-payment of subscription to the governing body SLR.
Both Rizly and Lasitha held the media briefing in Colombo recently commenting on their stance for the future of Sri Lanka Rugby which was more important than the presidency position. Lasitha said: “I have no intention to run for a second term and never want to contest. This is an example for other unions in the country – one need not contest to get the top position. In the end rugby won.”
Rizly speaking to the media said: “There was a miscommunication which led the media story being out saying we are fighting for the top position. We will need to focus more on the shorter version of the game. I want to bring more sponsors into the oval ball shaped game. Further we need a full time sevens squad without a break and will need huge sum of funds amounting to nearly 100 million a year.
“Flood light games will be introduced to attract more crowd for club encounters, standard of referees will be a vital point and top consideration will be given to this area where each club is pumping a huge sum for the league and knock out each year. I want to introduce an Under 21 and Under 24 system at Provincial level plus to work closely with the Sri Lanka Schools Ruby Football Association (SLSRFA) by providing space for them at SLR headquarters.”
Proposed office bearers by Rizly Ilyas for next AGM
Council Members: Fazal Mohamed, Roshan Deen, Jeewan Gunatilake, Pradeep Basnayake, Pavithra Fernando, Niranjan Abeywardena, Bandula Mallikarachchi and Dr. Samantha Nanyakkara.
