Decision on Clifford Cup final venue today

S. M. Jiffrey ABDEEN Kandy Sports corr

The Caltex Clifford Cup final between the defending champions Kandy Sports Club and the Sri Lanka Navy will be played at the Bogambara Stadium, Kandy on Sunday (August 1) at 4.30 p.m. This match was earlier scheduled to be played on Saturday and has been put off by a day.

The officials from the Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union (SLRFU) and the Central Province Rugby Football Union (CPRFU) are expected to meet today at 9.30 a.m. at the Bogambara Stadium to inspect the present condition and the facilities available to stage a match of this importance.

It must be recalled that this ground was the venue for the second leg of the Bradby Shield last month which drew one of the biggest crowds ever seen in a rugby match in Kandy.

If the Bogambara Stadium is declared not fit to stage this match, then what next? Next alternative is to play this match at the Nittawela Stadium which is not a neutral venue in keeping with the ideals of the SLRFU as this venue changed last week.

The third option will be to play this match at the Trinity College Rugby Stadium at Pallekelle which is about 14 kilometres from Kandy and two of them through a road where public transport is not available and has to be either walked or hire auto rickshaws paying everything between Rs 80 and Rs 100 depending on the demand.

Many auto rickshaws are also not available at the turn off from main road to meet a huge spectator demand.

The result will be spectators will reach the venue late and return home after 10 p.m. as public transport is scarce after 6.30 p.m. The fourth option is to play this match in Colombo in which event Kandy SC is likely to pull out of the tournament to mark their protest.

They have done this before and they are certain to do this again confided a member very close to Kandy sports club who was instrumental in powering the club to great victories in the past.