Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union (SLRFU) will terminate the agreement with Caltex after propping up with them for 12 long years. According to reliable sources Dialog and Soft Logic are vying for honours with some handsome package deals working out to more han twice which Caltex offered. The negotiations are in progress.
But issuing an official media release Caltex Lubricants on Friday stated that they decided to walk away from the sponsorship of the two domestic rugby tournament in Sri Lanka. Caltex claims that they came forward to help the game at a time when SLRFU was desperate to find a sponsor and in dire state for funds to keep the game alive.
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| Caltex brandings that were visible on local rugby grounds was a common sight for over a decade. - File pic. |
“As the committed official sponsor, Caltex supported the efforts of the SLRFU and its successive committees over the past 13 years to revive, enhance and grow the game. We are happy that our Rs.450 million investment over this period has benefited the game immensely,” the communiqué stated.
Further to the press release Caltex has decided to divert the funds from Rugby sponsorship to do more social responsibility activities, such as to help the people who need support to brighten their future and for environmental sustainability. The relationship between the long-standing sponsor and SLRFU began to rift last year during the latter stages of the previous administrators and after Asanga Seneviratne took over it further ripened.
Meanwhile the Inter-Club season will kick off in late September with the Carlton Rugby Sevens being worked off in Kandy and Colombo in May and June. Already some leading Sevens players from England, New Zealand and Scotland have committed and will be signing up very soon
Seneviratne, the president of the SLRFU speaking on the Five Nations Rugby tour where Sri Lanka lost to the Philippines in the crunch game said that the players who stayed away from national duty without giving valid excuses will be dealt with accordingly. Seneviratne said “We have appointed a committee comprising Maj Gen Krishnaratne, Senior DIG Asoka Wijethilake and SSP Ibrahim Hamid. They will speak to the players and submit their final report in the near future”.
Meanwhile Rizly Ilyas speaking to the Sunday Times said that New Zealand Rugby Union player clearance section contacted the SLRFU on giving permission for Fazil Marija and Roshan Weeraratne to play for New Zealand clubs. “We have replied on the said mail and told that they were not available for national selection and had violated the IRB regulation 9 and SLRFU constitution. These two players will not be allowed to play for any clubs during their stay in New Zealand”.
Young Sri Lankan rugby outfit did everything but lacked the finishing touches in their very last game of the HSBC Asian Five Nations Division I Rugby Tournament with the hosts Philippines. After an unsettled first half and lack of international exposure with their lesser experienced outfit were a few reasons for the failure at the last hurdle. On the other hand Philippines were fortunate to have more than 10 players representing in Rugby overseas in USA and Australia. Whatever said and done the performance of the young blood was remarkable with limited resources.
Speaking to the Sunday Times Head Coach of the Sri Lankan outfit, former England Hooker Phil Greening said he was very happy with the performances of the team. “What we lacked was the international exposure as a unit, but they played really well.” His main task will be to come back in early August and resume training for the shorter version of the game for the Shanghai and Malaysian Sevens which will be the qualification for the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens in 2013. Greening with immense experience in the shorter version of the game for England have Coached in England at top level will be hoping for a very good performances by the Lankans.
These two sevens tournaments will be played soon after the Carlton International Rugby Sevens.
Speaking further Greening said that he would like to watch the club season, School season and identify potential candidates who could fit in for the national side. He ended by saying that next year would be very vital for Sri Lanka to get promotion in 2014 for the Asian Top Five in order to get the second qualification spot from the Asian Region for the Rugby World Cup in England. “I want to go step by step,” he said in conclusion. |
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