The reason being the shortage of finances to participate in the selections.
According to sources in the field, the reason is the rug-of-war
between the Sri Lanka Rugby Federation and the Sri Lanka Schools Rugby Association.
Secretary reveals views
Secretary, Sri Lanka Rugby, Nasim Mohomed told media that his association lacks the funds for this tour.
He further said, “We cannot continue to fund youth rugby and that is something that the schools rugby association should do. Last year we spent Rs. 25 million for school rugby and in addition we gave the School Rugby Association Rs. 5 million. To date we have not received this money back. We have also sent a letter of demand for this money. It is the responsibility of the School Rugby Association to develop junior rugby. We have the responsibility to develop senior rugby.”
“Now what we are forced to do is to spend for junior rugby and we can’t continue to do this. There is so much that needs to be done for senior rugby such as development of sports clubs and development of women’s rugby and many more.
“The School Rugby Association should know to allocate funds for junior rugby. If they had done that these issues will not arise. As the junior rugby is what provides the resources for the senior rugby, they should know to develop junior rugby accordingly. But they are not interested in developing the sport neither are they interested in the tournaments. They have no proper plan for the development of junior rugby either. Last year they facilitated a tour of Dubai for the under 18 schools female ruggerites, but this year they have failed to organise it. These are things that the schools associations should do,” he added.
Selection for touring team, 38 chosen!
The selections are scheduled to take place on September 09 and 10 in Chinese Taipei.
It is said that 38 players had been chosen for the under 17 squad while the final selections are expected to take place under the leadership of National Rugby Selection Committee head, Michael Jayasekara.
Youth Olympics in Argentina
According to a Schools Rugby Spokesman, according to an invitation received through the Rugby Association, the initial preparations are being done by them.
However, he said although the National Rugby Association was expected to facilitate the team to participate in this tournament, due to financial crisis, the National Rugby Association had taken measures to cancel the tour.
Meanwhile six teams each of junior males and female are expected to participate in the seven a side junior rugby tournament at the Youth Olympics to be held in October 2018 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Together with the host Argentinian team, each team will be selected from the selections rounds held in South America, North America, Europe, Africa and the Asian continent.
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