Minister must ban rebel players to maintain discipline

Sri Lanka's makeshift side for the five-nation tournament has done reasonably well in Dubai. Considering the fact that some of the key Kandy Sports Club players withdrew at the eleventh hour due to reasons better known to them, the national selectors were compelled to field a lesser experienced side for the all-important tournament.

Nevertheless, those young lads, drawn mainly from CR & FC and Havelocks SC, made good use of the opportunity they got to prove that Sri Lanka rugby is not starved of talent. They proved that Kandy SC players could no longer dictate terms to suit their whims and fancies.

As I have stated in this column last week, the bold decision of the Minister of Sports and Public Recreation Gamini Lokuge came at the right time to discipline Sri Lanka rugby. This is not the first time that Kandy SC has apparently tried to sabotage Sri Lanka's international commitments. There are enough and more occasions where the hill capital lads have withdrawn when the team selections did not suit their 'godfathers'.

When Kandy SC made a similar futile attempt last time, Minister Lokuge was sympathetic towards the Kandy SC players and gave them an opportunity to discipline themselves. Having mistaken the kindness of Minister Lokuge as a sign of weakness, Kandy SC players tried their dirty trick this time too.

But the Sports Minister knew exactly where he should draw the line.

Minister Lokuge thought enough is enough and asked the SLRFU Interim Committee to send a team somehow and honour Sri Lanka's commitment for the five-nation tournament. The national selectors had no option but to look after Sri Lanka's interest in the absence of Kandy SC players who were earlier drawn to man key positions of the Sri Lanka national team.

It was during the 2008 four-nation tournament in Taiwan that Kandy SC previously played this 'dirty' game by withdrawing some of the key players.

Obviously they gave various reasons with most of them citing 'injury problems'. Though they had the mercy of the Sports Minister last time, they could not fool the Minister, who is an experienced campaigner in the political field. That is where the Kandy SC players did their calculation wrong and that they will not have to pay the price for letting down Sri Lanka rugby.

According to the Sports Ministry sources, Kandy SC players who withdrew at the last minute have not given any reasons. Even if they come out with their regular 'fitness excuse', that should be examined and ratified by the Department of Sports Medicine. Whatever the reasons are, all players who withdrew from the national squad for the five-nation tournament should be banned immediately, pending a Ministry investigation.

Once they are found guilty, those irresponsible players who held Sri Lanka rugby to ransom should be banned for a minimum of two years from all types of rugby. They should not even be allowed to compete, train or officiate at any level of domestic rugby. They should be completely banned from international rugby for at least two years.

This is a decision the Sports Minister must take fearlessly to discipline local sport. Such a bold decision would not only discipline local rugby but would be an eye opener to all other sport in Sri Lanka. Discipline is the most vital ingredient that would lead to success of any team and it is high time that Minister Lokuge takes that vital decision and sets an example to maintain discipline in local sport.

The national players who withdrew at the eleventh hour have not only let down their national team but also our country. It would have been a great humiliation to Sri Lanka if we would not have been able to field a team at the last minute. Thanks to the untiring efforts of the SLRFU and Sports Ministry officials, Sri Lanka managed to field a team.

The team not only proved that Sri Lanka rugby does not depend entirely on Kandy SC and the Colombo clubs are rich with natural talent. The players who withdrew in 'protest' did not give sufficient time for the officials to pick even a makeshift team. In doing so, those rebel players proved what their interests are. They have honoured their club commitments more than the national interest and that they should be ashamed to be called Sri Lankans.

In actual terms, Kandy SC has hardly produced players but has only 'imported' promising players from Colombo clubs and schools. In order to block Colombo clubs gaining services of star players, the hill capital club always maintained a heavy pool with even some of the outstanding players being compelled to sit on the reserve bench.

In this context, the Interim Committee President of the SLRFU, Dr. Maiya Gunasekera has come out with a meaningful step of tapping Defence Services rugby. He has entrusted former Air Force and Sri Lanka player Group Captain (rtd) Nalin de Silva to draw a program to improve Army SC, Navy SC and Air Force SC rugby within the next two to three years.

Unlike the blue-eyed boys from the hill capital, the services players would only play for the national glory, not for the perks their clubs offer. If we can concentrate more on our Defence Services rugby, we could fill the bulk of the vacancies in the national team from the three Services.

Many knowledgeable figures in the rugby circles have commended the meaningful step taken by Minster Lokuge by not bowing down to the pressure from players. He must now take another step forward and ban all those culprits so that he could clean Sri Lanka rugby once and for all. We do not want opportunists who have let their country down for personal differences.

Sri Lanka rugby could do even better without those indisciplined players.