Referees spoil Antonian- Science rugby match

S M Jiffrey Abdeen - Kandy Sports Correspondent

The schools under 20 division one segment ‘A’ rugby tournament match between St Anthony’s College, Kandy and Science College, Mount Lavinia which was scheduled to be played at the Bogambara Stadium, Kandy yesterday did not come off as the official referee and the two touch judges failed to turn up even by 5.30 pm.

D Nimal was officially expected to blow at this key match and in fact he confirmed to this writer at the Broadly encounter that he will be blowing at this match.

A large crowd turned up to witness this match and even the tickets were issued by the home team not knowing that the fate of the match.

The President of Old Antonian Rugby Club Nath Weerakoon instructed the authorities to refund ticket money immediately or otherwise the spectators could make use of these tickets for future matches.

The Match Commissioner A K B Dodanwila said that he was totally unaware of this situation and turned up at the grounds to perform his duties.

He has also obtained letters from the two schools confirming that they were present in the grounds and it was the referee who failed to turn up. The Master-In-Charge Science College A P Jayasuriya said that it is very unfortunate that the appointed referee failed to turned up and no reason had been given.

They had come all the way from Mount Lavinia to keep this engagement. Most of the players representing their team were Advanced Level students and they had been missing extra classes to play rugby. This is an utter waste of time and money.

Palitha Abeyratne MIC, St Anthony’s College said that they have been getting students to play rugby with greatest difficulty and if things of this nature happens, the parents may think twice before sending their children to play rugby.