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Monday, 11 July 2016 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Shamseer Jaleel
S. Thomas’ College Mount Lavinia Warden Rev. Marc Billimoria resigned from his role as one of the Vice Presidents of the Sri Lanka Schools Rugby Football Association (SLSRFA) through a strongly-worded letter to SLSRFA President B.A. Abeyratne, the Principal of Royal College.
This comes after the SLSRFA decided to provide a neutral venue for the final of the Schools Knockout Trophy after refusing to accommodate a similar request for a neutral venue from S. Thomas’ College ahead of their semi-final game against Royal.
In his resignation letter, he states that despite the Thomians being compelled to comply with the decision of the SLSRFA about a neutral venue, Isipathana have not been asked to abide by these same guidelines. Billimoria says that for this reason, together with the fact that S. Thomas’ request for a change in venue was denied by intentionally misleading them through “incorrect reasons” made his future involvement as a Vice President of SLSRFA untenable.
He goes on to call for the introduction of a tournament rule stating that any match in the knockout tournament from 2017 onwards should be played at a neutral venue and asks that the SLSRFA provide S. Thomas’ with a written apology for denying them their request for a venue change by citing incorrect or misleading reasons.
He ends the correspondence by saying that SLSRFA should not be biased or give into threats or potential boycotts. Billimoria also warns that should such unfair treatment be meted out in the future, then the Thomians would be forced to refrain from participating in future knockout tournaments organised by the SLSRFA.
