Upcoming races postponed - RTC Head Keerthinanda
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RTC President Panduka Keerthinanda[/caption]
We purely did this for the sake of the sport and also to boost sport tourism in and around Nuwara Eliya. Also note that approximately 200 families directly and indirectly benefited from this annual and historical event, said Royal Turf Club President and prominent sports lawyer Panduka Keerthinanda, when The Morning Sports contacted him yesterday (17) on Friday’s horseracing event in Nuwara Eliya.
“All entertainment activities were not held this time with only the sponsors and the general public in limited attendance. No special V.I.P invitees were accommodated too,” he said.
“RTC would also like to bring to your notice that the last (December 2021) races were cancelled and the monies allocated for that event were used for a community project where 350 families and their children benefitted.
“As a sports body, we are with the public but we conducted this event on a very low-key note. Finally, I would like to mention that all upcoming races are postponed indefinitely until the situation of the country is stabilised.”
[caption id="attachment_199019" align="alignleft" width="356"]
Former Sri Lanka cricketer Kumar Dharmasena’s (seen here on right) presence at the Nuwara Eliya horse-races on Friday (15) derived a lot of criticism on social media. Photo - internet[/caption]
The Royal Turf Club (RTC) and those that attended the Nuwara Eliya horse-races last Friday (15) have received huge criticism on social media. That is after a popular glamour magazine has published photographs of the event on its online platforms.
Interestingly, though, after 311 comments, those photos had been removed from the internet. Most of those viewer responses were very critical of the glamorous horseracing event held on Friday.
Flak on Dharmasena’s presence
It was observed that the removed posts also contained pictures which included those of world champion Sri Lanka cricketer and International Cricket Council (ICC) Elite Panel umpire Kumara Dharmasena. The photos had received much flak online by their viewers.
Some of such comments read as follows:
“Expected more from a person like Kumar Dharmasena who struggled to come up in life before he played for Sri Lanka. Thought he would feel for poor and needy in this country.”
“Shameful to see a former cricketer here when the country is in crisis! Take a page from Roshan Mahanama and support the masses and strive to eliminate their suffering!”
Our highlighting
It was about six days before this Nuwara Eliya summer festival horseracing event - on 10 April 2022 - that The Sunday Morning Sports published a story titled, “The elite to race horses while country is in turmoil”.
It highlighted that officials of the RTC needed to consider in postponing the event showing that they are sensitive towards the feelings of the public who are enduring great economic hardships, perhaps the gravest in our lifetime.
Not a compulsory event
The RTC is not an association registered under the Ministry of Sports of Sri Lanka and is a private entity. Therefore holding an annual sports event, which is more a glamour event than an actual sporting competition, could not have been compulsory.
Having such an event in haste in this kind of a social context was more or less ‘asking for trouble’. Such events do not serve for anything compulsory like selection of players/athletes for national teams etcetera.
‘Look like clowns’
The RTC is also scheduled to hold their next races shortly, once again in Nuwara Eliya. This time, the elite horse owners are expected to be racing their thoroughbreds hoping to win the Commander’s Cup which will be on offer.
One of the comments on the above-said photos perhaps sums up the mood the Friday’s event has created on the general public.
“(Those who attended it) Look like clowns sadly... desperately trying to look British but failing bitterly.”
RTC President Panduka Keerthinanda[/caption]
We purely did this for the sake of the sport and also to boost sport tourism in and around Nuwara Eliya. Also note that approximately 200 families directly and indirectly benefited from this annual and historical event, said Royal Turf Club President and prominent sports lawyer Panduka Keerthinanda, when The Morning Sports contacted him yesterday (17) on Friday’s horseracing event in Nuwara Eliya.
“All entertainment activities were not held this time with only the sponsors and the general public in limited attendance. No special V.I.P invitees were accommodated too,” he said.
“RTC would also like to bring to your notice that the last (December 2021) races were cancelled and the monies allocated for that event were used for a community project where 350 families and their children benefitted.
“As a sports body, we are with the public but we conducted this event on a very low-key note. Finally, I would like to mention that all upcoming races are postponed indefinitely until the situation of the country is stabilised.”
[caption id="attachment_199019" align="alignleft" width="356"] Former Sri Lanka cricketer Kumar Dharmasena’s (seen here on right) presence at the Nuwara Eliya horse-races on Friday (15) derived a lot of criticism on social media. Photo - internet[/caption]
The Royal Turf Club (RTC) and those that attended the Nuwara Eliya horse-races last Friday (15) have received huge criticism on social media. That is after a popular glamour magazine has published photographs of the event on its online platforms.
Interestingly, though, after 311 comments, those photos had been removed from the internet. Most of those viewer responses were very critical of the glamorous horseracing event held on Friday.
Flak on Dharmasena’s presence
It was observed that the removed posts also contained pictures which included those of world champion Sri Lanka cricketer and International Cricket Council (ICC) Elite Panel umpire Kumara Dharmasena. The photos had received much flak online by their viewers.
Some of such comments read as follows:
“Expected more from a person like Kumar Dharmasena who struggled to come up in life before he played for Sri Lanka. Thought he would feel for poor and needy in this country.”
“Shameful to see a former cricketer here when the country is in crisis! Take a page from Roshan Mahanama and support the masses and strive to eliminate their suffering!”
Our highlighting
It was about six days before this Nuwara Eliya summer festival horseracing event - on 10 April 2022 - that The Sunday Morning Sports published a story titled, “The elite to race horses while country is in turmoil”.
It highlighted that officials of the RTC needed to consider in postponing the event showing that they are sensitive towards the feelings of the public who are enduring great economic hardships, perhaps the gravest in our lifetime.
Not a compulsory event
The RTC is not an association registered under the Ministry of Sports of Sri Lanka and is a private entity. Therefore holding an annual sports event, which is more a glamour event than an actual sporting competition, could not have been compulsory.
Having such an event in haste in this kind of a social context was more or less ‘asking for trouble’. Such events do not serve for anything compulsory like selection of players/athletes for national teams etcetera.
‘Look like clowns’
The RTC is also scheduled to hold their next races shortly, once again in Nuwara Eliya. This time, the elite horse owners are expected to be racing their thoroughbreds hoping to win the Commander’s Cup which will be on offer.
One of the comments on the above-said photos perhaps sums up the mood the Friday’s event has created on the general public.
“(Those who attended it) Look like clowns sadly... desperately trying to look British but failing bitterly.”