The Sri Lankan Sports Minister has announced that he is considering introducing a law that will ban sportsmen who refuse to represent the country in international sports.

Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage told reporters,

"We are having issues mostly in cricket and rugby where national team players often refuse to represent the country when the national team has a scheduled tour and at times opt to play for some other event. So we are now looking at bringing in amendments to the sports law to allow sporting bodies to temporarily ban such players".

His statement comes after several senior rugby players refused to play for the national team in April. They boycotted the team once Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s son Yoshitha Rajapaksa was awarded the captaincy, overlooking several other senior players.

The incident lead Yoshitha Rajapaksa, a young officer in the navy, to describe the boycotting players as “traitors”, remarking,

“I view the decision by certain senior rugby players to play for other countries or take rest instead of playing for the country as a treacherous act.”

However, UNP parliamentarian Marijaand Weerarathne commented,

"how can Yoshitha describe them as traitors when he himself returned from the team just before the crucial final game against Singapore to take part in a car race in Colombo.”