Sri Lanka suspends school sports after bomb

Feb 7, 2008 (AFP) - All school sports have been suspended in Sri Lanka after a Tamil Tiger suicide bomb attack in the capital killed nine pupils and a baseball coach, the government said Thursday.

An eduction ministry spokesman said planned field trips for events marking the island's 60th anniversary of independence from Britain would also be cancelled, with the freeze remaining in place until further notice.

The decisions follow Sunday's suicide bomb attack at the main railway station in Colombo that killed seven schoolboys from a local collage and their coach.

Two other schoolgirls were also killed in the same blast, believed to be the work of the separatist rebel group the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

The sports ban will hit popular cricket tournaments organised by schools.

"We have taken a decision to suspend all school cricket tournaments until further notice following a directive by the Ministry of Education," Dilshan de Silva, the secretary of the Schools Cricket Association, told AFP.

The move could affect a friendly match between two leading schools played since 1879. The 129th annual match between the Royal College and St. Thomas's College was to be played over three days next month.

The more popular match between Ananda and Nalanda colleges, which together have produced the highest number of Test players, including Sri Lanka's World Cup-winning skipper Arjuna Ranatunga, could also be hit by the suspension.

Sri Lanka has ordered schools in Colombo to remain closed until Monday as a sign of mourning for the nine students killed in Sunday's bomb attack, while security for all schools has been stepped up.

The authorities fear that the Tiger rebels, fighting for independence since 1972, could target schoolchildren as a way to create unrest.

Source: LBO