We have had to leave rugby - Namal

Younger brothers were contacted and told to stop rugger

We have had to leave rugby - Namal

Member of parliament Namal Rajapaksa writing to his private

blog site has said that politics has invaded the game of rugby and his brothers Yoshitha and Rohitha were phoned and asked not to join in rugger practices. No reason has been given for it he says and hints that there are signs that it has come to a stage now where he has had to take leave from the game to which he was dedicated. According to details mentioned in the letter, the rugby of his brothers and his is drawing now close to its final phase, Namal Rajapaksa states so across his private blog site (www.namalrajapaksablog.com).

"Like I, my brothers loved the game of rugby. I started the game of rugby at the age of 6 and held leadership during my schooling as well as in university teams. Ultimately I represented the Sri Lankan team. Just as much as I found happiness through the game, we tried to do something for the game. As such, we tried to get down foreign players to our country and to provide the experience at an international level for our young players. We have come close to the end of our sports career. We tried to give back something to the game that gave us a lot. I think that those things had contributed even in a small measure towards the game. After the elections, at the beginning of January, bitter and vengeful politics have come into the game. Without leaving room for the brilliance of the game to fade away because of political conflict we came into a decision by respecting it and without making it an issue. For some .... rugby became a part of politics. But for us ....it became a game which we loved" Namal says.

Namal states finally in his blog site that he on behalf of his brothers as well as himself wishes to thank everybody who gave of his support during his career in rugby. That letter is as follows: