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| Thursday, 17 June 2004 |
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A forgotten lot
The Sri Lanka Rugby Referees Society (SLRRS) has been presenting their grievances to the Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union (SLRFU) for a couple of months or more. But the SLRFU's eyes were opened only when the referees decided to stop blowing from the CH-Army game a few weeks ago. Due to the quick action taken by DIG Nimal Lewke and Chandrishan Perera, the matter was amicably settled. All what referees ask is a reasonable out of pocket allowance to cover their incidental expenses. It is a fair request and is nothing much compared to the service they render and millions of rupees the SLRFU gets on sponsorships and other grants. Even if a referee is paid an allowance of Rs. 2,500 for an 'A' division inter-club match, he would get just Rs. 25,000 per season after ten games. In contrast, clubs sign coaches for lucrative amounts but hesitate to pay referees an allowance even after making good gate collections. In a way, it is bad to put the blame on clubs as they do not get any financial assistance from the SLRFU. It is the SLRFU who must look after the referees. The SLRFU gets considerable volumes of IRB finances for development of the game. A part of that money should go to the development of referees and assist them in conducting seminars and workshops for rugby referees. Unfortunately this is not happening and the SLRRS is surviving on their own. Due to the keen interest shown by a few affordable rugby referees they were able to organise a seminar for referees without any financial support from the SLRFU. But how long can the referees survive. Not even a handful of 'A' division players take to refereeing. After semi professional club careers, there are two options for the star premier league players if they want to be in the game - to take to coaching or refereeing. But hardly anyone will like to take up the whistle because the referees are a neglected lot in our country. There are only two IRB qualified referees who have been star players during their playing careers - Dilroy Fernando and Nizam Jamaldeen. Apart from the top duo, Anil Jayasinghe and Orville Fernando too have taken to refereeing after playing 'A' division rugby. There are a couple of other referees who have played for Kandy Sports Club. Other than these six or seven referees, they aren't anyone who has played 'A' division rugby in the SLRRS. There are referees with no playing experience what so ever, even at school first XV level. True that playing experience is not a prerequisite to be a referee. There have been good referees who have not held a ball. But all what we are trying to point out is the lack of interest shown by our 'A' division or Sri Lanka players to take to refereeing after retirement. The main reason is the pathetic way the referees are treated. Under the circumstances, the SLRFU must play an active role. The union must realise the game is there due to the huge contributions made by referees over the years. We had some top referees in the past. But it won't be a surprise if the SLRFU find no more referees here and will have to recruit referees from abroad for all club games. After the 'trade union' action by the referees, which is fully justifiable, the SLRFU has assured them of an allowance for 'A' division games. But that too is yet to be ratified by the SLRFU council. The SLRFU throws millions for development and administration, employing a couple of persons with lavish salary packages. But it has taken them so long to realise that there are referees in the game. We hope the SLRFU will keep it's promise and the council would ratify the best possible response to the referees' requests. Colombo Grand Prix on June 27 It was good to hear that the Athletic Association of Sri Lanka (AASL) is going ahead with their preparations for the Asian Grand Prix meeting scheduled to be worked off at Colombo's Sugathadasa Stadium on June 27. The athletic officials panicked after the Sports Ministry appointed a three-member committee to look in to allegations of administration and financial mismanagement of AASL. Hence, some officials hesitated in going ahead with the Colombo Grand Prix. But the AASL ex-co took a courageous decision to have the Colombo Grand Prix, despite the negative effects on the meet due to the ongoing probe. The AASL officials will not have to get affected if they had 'run straight'. They would not be disqualified if they had not 'changed lanes'. Hence, they should go ahead with the Colombo Grand Prix for the benefit of our athletics and it is just the AASL has done. By hosting the Colombo Grand Prix, the AASL not only provides our athletes to compete on home soil but also to win cash bonanza, which they would not get in their lifetime. Except for a handful of top athletes, others will not get a chance to compete in top IAAF ratified Grand Prix meets. But when we have the Asian Grand Prix in Colombo, about 160 local athletes get an opportunity to take part with cash incentives. Last year, our athletes won over Rs. five million from the Asian Grand Prix series, a prize money they have never in the century old Sri Lanka track and field history. The Asian Grand Prix series has done good for our athletics and Colombo has become a regular international venue in the world track and field map. The athletes should be grateful for the AASL for getting the rare opportunity of hosting the meet out of 44 countries in Asia. Originally it was Bangkok, Manila and Hyderabad, which hosted the Asian Grand Prix. But due to untiring efforts of the local athletic officials, Colombo was picked as the fourth venue from last year. We must make a collective effort to retain the opportunity we got and host the meet in an exemplary manner to impress Asia. |
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Produced by Lake House |
Rugby referees in Sri Lanka are a neglected lot. They have been
rendering a great service to keep the game alive, but their contributions
have not been recognised. Forget about recognition, they even have to risk
their lives in present day rugby. Even for a simple human mistake, they
have often got assaulted.
