Rugby clubs that chose to remain silent when the Sports Ministry halted the Nippon Paint inter club League rugby championship with just two deciding weeks left, are now coming out in full force and screaming out in all their right and might.
The clubs have broken their silence after tournament organizer Sri Lanka Rugby (SLR) decided to award table leaders Kandy SC the Cup and Air Force the Plate while abandoning the remaining two matches that each of the eight teams had to play at the time the League was halted.
The League was halted in a high handed and unjustified act by the Sports Ministry which took over SLR after the forced-to-resign Sports Minister Namal Rajapaksa issued a disputed gazette notification suspending SLR.
The gazette notification was declared illegal by Court after SLR filed legal action against the Sports Ministry that paved the way for the recommencement of the remaining League matches.
Kandy SC have told SLR that they will not be in a position to travel to Colombo for their remaining two matches citing the fuel crisis and security concerns among other factors.
In return Havelock SC who are second placed in the League have objected to Kandy SC being declared the winners while claiming that the title could be theirs if they win both their remaining games, one of which is against unbeaten Kandy SC.
In another development Navy SC have also objected to Air Force being awarded the Plate saying Air Force has played nine matches and Navy one less that makes them lie in second place in the Plate Segment.
To sum it up all, the tournament director of the League, Nazeem Mohamed, has declared that in the event the League is unable to proceed any further, there is no provision to declare any team as the winner.