Friday 27th May, 2011 15 The rebel tour of German players lend helping South Africa in 1982 BY NEIL PERERA were as good as any of the cricketers in other countries. hand to football (Continued from yesterday) , Duleep From the 1970s, the BCCSL Mendis, , Sidat BY MANJULA D. PHILLIPS administrators had tried long Wettimuny, , and hard to obtain Full Ajith de Silva, Lalith The German football team, which Membership of the ICC, but Kaluperuma and Mahesh finished 3rd at the FIFA World Cup were not successful, particu- Goonetileka were highly tal- 2006, responding to an initiative by larly as England and Australia ented cricketers and they FIFA Coaching Instructor Holger had used their Veto powers to would have become cricketers Oberman, in association with the reject our application. of international repute, with German Embassy in , At long last, with the advent more exposure. donated Euro 250,000 for the con- of the late Mr. Gamini Look at this team: struction of the German–Sri Lanka Dissanayake as President of , Sidat Football Training Centre in the BCCSL, we achieved this Wettimuny, Ranjan Madugalle, Matara, which was declared open in elusive goal, largely due to his Roy Dias, , January, 2009. This was revealed to supreme efforts. (all bats- the media at a briefing held recent- This achievement however, men), Ashantha de Mel and ly at the FFSL. was nullified by the horren- (pacemen), D. S. Apart from this, the German dous act of a set of cricketers, de Silva, Ajith de Silva and Football Association continues who had no love for the coun- Lalith Kaluperuma (spinners) their commitment with a donation try, but were hell bent on get- and Mahesh Gunatilleka of Euro 10,000 for the maintenance ting financial rewards for play- (wicketkeeper). of the German-Sri Lanka National ing against teams from a coun- This team would have given Training Centre in Matara and try that had been ostracised by a run for their money to the agreed to make a donation to the the rest of the world. World Cup winning team or Jaffna and Matara Football Some of us old stagers like the present team with a little Leagues. T. Murugesar, Nisal more exposure. This team On a request made by the Senaratne, Abu Fuard, S. E. G. would have beaten any team in Football Federation of Sri Lanka Perera and myself, who were the world. Sadly, this was not through the German Embassy in privy to our earlier efforts, to happen. Sri Lanka, the Government of the were horrified at the complete After the rebel tour, we Federal Republic of Germany had betrayal of the achievement of had to virtually beg for fix- consented to grant a donation of Mr. Gamini Dissanayake by tures as our team became vir- Euro 1, 00,000 for the construction Jens Plotner, the German Ambassador in Sri Lanka, presents the cheque to Sarath Weerasekera, President, FFSL at the this one single act. tually an ‘A’ team. The rebel of the National Football Training The action of these rebels tour itself was a disaster. They Centre in Jaffna. media briefing held recently, at FFSL headquarters. caused Sri Lanka to fall could not win a single match behind by at least five years. It on tour. They played seven was no wonder then, that we First Class matches, lost four were able to win our first Test by an innings. They lost all Maradona abroad only after 14 years in four limited overs matches to Golf Medal tees off with Softlogic Finance 1995, when we defeated New South African teams. This Zealand in Napier. If we had then was the sordid story of again critical of The Royal Colombo Golf Club RCGC. Softlogic Group, one of Sri all the cricketers that played in the rebel tour, that retarded is set to come alive this Saturday Softlogic Finance is delighted Lanka’s most diversified and the first Test match against the forward march of Sri as the RCGC May Monthly Medal to be associated with this event fastest-growing conglomerates. England throughout the 1980s, Lanka cricket by at least five Tevez absence tees off in style, sponsored by and has set up the May Medal as Members of the club will also be we would have definitely won years and left a indelible Softlogic Finance. a ‘medal with a difference’. An able to avail themselves of spe- more matches with more expo- black mark in the cricket his- BUENOS AIRES, Argentina Featuring the five categories of unusual element has been drafted cial deals on Ford and Daihatsu sure for our cricketers, who tory of this country. (AP) — Former Argentina coach play including Divisions A, B, C, into the format that will keep automobiles on the day that are Diego Maradona has again criticized as well as Masters and Seniors players attempting to seek the distributed by the Softlogic his replacement, Sergio Batista, for Divisions, the tournament will be best nett score on six hidden Group. overlooking Carlos Tevez for his conducted on a stroke play for- holes in each division. The tournament will take Copa America team. mat and is expected to attract The holes will be randomly place tomorrow, with tee-offs Major Raj Fernando Memorial Maradona, speaking in a radio close to 200 golfers. selected and not be revealed until starting at 6.00 am and promises interview Wednesday, said Tevez was The RCGC, which was founded the end of the tournament. to be an exhilarating day of golf still being punished for skipping a over 130 years ago, is the second An array of attractive prizes, for all May Monthly Medal Cricket Tournament on Sunday friendly against Brazil in November oldest Royal Golf Club in the including digital cameras, home patrons. This new sporting part- The Major Raj Fernando The champions will be at Qatar . world, outside the United theatre systems and an impres- nership is expected to offer fresh Memorial island-wide six-a- awarded Rs. 25,000 in cash Maradona called Tevez, who plays Kingdom, and boasts of a rich sive LCD flat-screen television impetus to the golfing calendar side cricket tournament while the runners-up will for Manchester City, “the people’s heritage of tradition and culture. are up for grabs as Softlogic with Softlogic Finance making organised for the 12th time by receive Rs. 10,000. player” and said he had managed to The Monthly Medal is an event Finance partners the RCGC for the circuit more lucrative for Kurana Cricket Club, will be The Man of the Match, be a top scorer in England despite that goes back a long way and is the first time. Previously known players and group involvement in worked off on Sunday, May 29, Best Batsman and Best “playing against those orangutans” the most regular occurrence in as Capital Reach, Softlogic the sport set to pick up pace in at the Major Raj Fernando Bowler will also receive cash in the physical English Premier the local golfing calendar at the Finance is now backed by the the months to come. grounds, Negombo. awards and trophies. League.