A group of girls who made up a trophy-winning football team from a school in Polonnaruwa are reported to have been warned not to reveal their agony and ordeal that they were subjected to in their journey that made them champions of a recent all-island Under-20 tournament that was held in Jaffna.
The girls from a school called Bandiwewa Maha Vidyalaya are reported to have been subjected to some of the most appalling situations as they left their remote villages and headed for Jaffna where the five-day all-island Under 20 girls’ football championship was held.
Most of the time the girls were forced to live on rice and Dhal, had no safe and proper accommodation for the night and travelled in ramshackle public transport to get to the venue.
They even had to walk for miles and to their shock and dismay did not have a designated place to spend their first night and last minute accommodation came their way courtesy of an old school building, it has been reported.
To add to them bagging the Under-20 title, their under-17 girls’ team ended in third place that spoke volumes of the neglected talent found at Bandiwewa Maha Vidyalaya.
There were 30 girls in all while some of them were accompanied by their parents and elders.
Ironically the school is within visible distance of the residence of Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe who hails from Polonnaruwa.
Fearing that Minister Ranasinghe would take action against them, it is alleged that some shady education officials in the district had threatened the girls by ordering them to stay away from the Press and public media when they returned with their trophies.
