da doce： Matara Sports Club have threatened to take the Tournament Committee of theBoard of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka (BCCSL) to courts over itsdecision to force the club into playing in the promotion and relegationtournament
Rex Clementine11-Jul-2001Matara Sports Club have threatened to take the Tournament Committee of theBoard of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka (BCCSL) to courts over itsdecision to force the club into playing in the promotion and relegationtournament.Matara SC ended fourth in the Plate Championship of the Premier LeagueTournament, but the Tournament Committee cancelled their points, relegatingthe side to the bottom of the table after Kurunagala Youth Cricket Club.Kurunagala protested that five players playing for Matara SC had alreadyplayed for Moors Sports Club in the one-day tournament during same season.The players were R. Priyadarshana, C. Bandaratillake, U. Fernando, M.P.Salgado and A. Jayasinghe.Kurunagala ended up in the seventh place of the Plate Championship and wereto play in the promotion and relegation matches. When their protest provedsuccessful they moved up into the safety of sixth position and were thusguaranteed a place in the Premier League next season.Matara, however, responded to the board’s decision by refusing to play asingle promotion or relegation game.They complain that BCCSL tournament rules and regulations require thatofficial protests should be handed over to the secretary of the tournamentcommittee within 48 hours of a match. Kurunegala’s protest came aftertwo-months and Matara officials smell foul play.Sports Secretary of Matara SC, P.M.C Waidyarathne, claims that the fiveplayers were legitimately transferred, having moved from one province toanother because of changes to their employment.Chairman of the Tournament Committee, Shriyan Samararathne, maintains thatthe committee is not satisfied with the documents provided by thetransferred players.