• Former SLR President and current Asia Rugby independent member, Chairman of Competitions and High Performance Asanga Seneviratne refutes Rizly Illyas’s allegations 

The Morning Sports recently published an exclusive interview from suspended Sri Lanka Rugby (SLR) President Rizly Illyas, in which he levelled various allegations against past presidents and ministers regarding their financial mismanagement and interference in the SLR’s current affairs. 

The Morning Sports contacted former SLR President Asanga Seneviratne, who was the main target with regard to these allegations, and who vehemently denied all allegations directed at him by Illyas. 

One of the major allegations levelled by Illyas was regarding the balance payment of Rs. 2.5 million, which the SLR under Seneviratne had failed to pay to the Sri Lanka Society of Rugby Football Referees. 

Seneviratne, commenting on the matter, told The Morning Sports: “This matter was discussed at committee meetings and I clearly explained to the referees’ representatives that the Rs. 3 million sponsorship received from Dialog Axiata, which the Rugby Union procured for them, was to be utilised for the referees’ payments, and not for any other purpose. They were allowed to wear the logo, and kits were provided for the purpose of officiating in matches and events organsied by the SLR. 

“This was clearly minuted, and every member present is aware of this arrangement. Some minor payments were withheld, since the reports and documents needed to substantiate them were not provided. I handed over the office just five months into our financial year in 2017, and have no further dealings regarding this or any matters of SLR. Why would he wait five long years to bring this up?”

He further added: “Ilyaz is talking about a deficit when I left office. The year in question saw the Asian Games, the Commonwealth Games, and a host of Asian Rugby tournaments for men and women, which were more than covered by our sponsors and the Ministry of Sports. We toured France and Malaysia in preparation for these events and then attended the Commonwealth games in Australia, and were a few weeks away from the Asian Games. 

“Anyone with a simple knowledge of rugby and accounts will understand that the expenses were extremely high at the beginning of this financial year because of these additional events. At this stage, there was a deficit of Rs. 20 million, but the sponsorship to come in for the rest of the year and the Sports Ministry grants were in excess of Rs. 80 million. So if the incumbent committee was unable to manage the union cash flows, it’s unfortunate.”

“Wild unsubstantiated allegations and insults against all and sundry will not cover up the sorry state the game of rugby is in today. It’s pathetic what our noble sport has come to in Sri Lanka and we are now the laughing stock of sports enthusiasts here and around the world.”

With regards to President Illyas’s allegations over Seneviratne exerting influence over the current suspension of SLR by Asia Rugby (AR), Seneviratne said: “The AR President has initiated a process regarding certain matters and it’s being handled by an independent judicial officer. I cannot comment on this until the process is concluded. On the matter of me stopping Sri Lanka from playing in Asia Rugby tournaments, let me remind you that AR is a professional world body managing the largest player base in the world with over 40 member countries. This and all matters have to be passed first by the executive committee (exco) and then by the council. It is an honour for our country to have one of the two independent exco members in Asia Rugby.”

“We allowed SL to participate in the recently held AR sevens series. Unfortunately, the country couldn’t even send the women’s team for the third leg in Dubai, while the men turned up the day before the tournament and fared poorly.”

Asked to comment on the current state of Sri Lanka Rugby, Seneviratne said: “To revive Sri Lanka Rugby, you will need all the stakeholders – mainly the founding clubs and services teams, which in reality are the backbone of our rugby after the schools – to come together and work together. If you don’t have enough funds, you simply can’t run the sport, so whoever wants to do so must be capable of raising real money and understanding what you need to do to make an impact on the world stage.

“A sporting federation with a Rs. 6.5 million sponsor and an expense budget of Rs. 30 million per year was handed over to me with a deficit of Rs. 21 million in 2012. This same entity was handed over with a Rs. 200 million turnover with our national sevens team attaining an all-time-high ranking of No. 2 and our 15’s team attaining the third place in the Asian rankings and an all-time-high world ranking of No. 42. Our women had reached the No. 4 position in Asia and were taking the top three teams to the wire with just a two-point difference in most of their games. We were ranked No. 2 in the sponsorship table behind cricket in the annual list published by the Ministry of Sports. We were conducting an international World Class Sevens tournament with the participation of the 50 best players in the world, which cost over Rs. 250 million.”