The journey to this point has been long and full of political, legal and sporting drama, but at the Sri Lanka Rugby AGM held on October 8th, which was conducted at the country\u2019s Sports Ministry complex, the new Sri Lanka Rugby President and office bearers were finally elected for the SLR.<\/p>\n
Pavithra Fernando is a former Sri Lanka captain and now leads the Sri Lanka Rugby (SLR) after being elected President for a term running from 2025\u20132027. Local media have reported that this is seen as a \u2018fresh start for the game\u2019 after the sport has faced numerous administrative challenges over recent years, which included a suspension from Asia Rugby and World Rugby.<\/p>\n
The elections eventually took place after several delays due to legal disputes and under threat of a two-year suspension from World Rugby.<\/p>\n
Also elected to be office bearers are Shanitha Fernando (Deputy President), SSP Chinthaka Perera (Vice President), Air Commodore Subash Jayatilaka (General Secretary \u2013 he is also the current President of the Thurstan Rugby Club), Neomal Ekanayake (Treasurer), Ms. Thilini Rangani and Stephan Gregory were appointed as the Female and Athlete Representatives, respectively.<\/p>\n
President \u2013 Mr. Pavithra Fernando
\nDeputy President \u2013 Mr. Shanitha Fernando
\nVice President \u2013 SSP Chinthaka Perera
\nGeneral Secretary \u2013 Air Commodore Subash Jayatilaka
\nTreasurer \u2013 Mr. Neomal Ekanayake
\nFemale Representative \u2013 Ms.Thilini Rangani
\nAthlete Representative \u2013 Lt.Stephan Gregory<\/p>\n
The elections, nearly expectedly at this point, did not go ahead without their own drama. Running opposed to the elected President was Lasitha Gunarathne, and some Sri Lankan media outlets reported that his nominated office bearers were rejected and Fernando\u2019s nominees were all elected uncontested without an explanation provided.<\/p>\n
The Election Committee also dismissed the voting rights of seven of the provincial unions, and A Division clubs had seven votes, as opposed to six to which they had been entitled during previous elections.<\/p>\n
It does not exactly appear to be a seamless and smooth political transition to outsiders. The Election Committee comprised all CR & FC nominees (Justice Lalith Jayasuriya, Justice Nimal Ranaweera, and M.M. Mohamed), and both Presidential nominees were, well, also CR & FC members.<\/p>\n
A letter sent to World Rugby by the SRL Working Task Force (which was appointed by the Ministry of Sports) was also made available online following the elections, as there was pressure to hold the elections promptly.<\/p>\n
This followed a long period of frustration and internal politicking as the Supreme Court had to intervene following World Rugby issuing an ultimatum to SLR to hold its AGM or potentially face a 24-month international isolation from the sport.<\/p>\n