Dialog Axiata has given their consent to Sri Lankan Schools Rugby Football Association (SLSRFA) to resume the Inter Schools Rugby tournament, which was halted way back in March due to the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic, provided the green light is granted from the other relevant authorities the Ministry of Education (MOE), and Ministry of Health (MOH) respectively.
Sri Lanka’s prominent sports promoter and sponsoring organization the- Dialog AXIATA met the SLSRFA officials last week and had a lengthy discussion with them, with regard to the plight of the halted tournament.
They as sponsors have been very enthusiastic and optimistic to restart the tournament if other relevant authorities grant permission to resume. Dialog which came to the rescue of the SLSRFA beginning of the year, with 65 million sponsorship per year, after the long standing Singer Sri Lanka opted to pull out. As per a senior official of the sponsors “We have shown our interest and keenness of continuing the tournament, which we just signed this year. We met the SLSRFA official last week and informed them of our stance. Now it is left to them to inform us of the reschedule of the tournament structure, as to how it will be played after the loss of time. Moreover, their first priority will be to get the authorities approval along with the rescheduled plan. If these matters are sorted out then we can kick off the tournament”.
“We as sponsors look positively with regard to any sports. We want the tournaments to be held but not just bogged down. With respect to Schools Rugby which is one of the popular events in our sponsorship calendar, our top priority is to resume.” he further added.
The SLSRFA spokesman also commented that they too are happy to hear of the sponsors’ decision which is very positive to start the tournament. Now they are waiting to meet the MOE and MOH officials and get their approval to résumé the tournament with the health regulations to follow. After completion of the second week’s fixtures of first round matches, the tournament came to a standstill due to the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic.
Nevertheless, the governing body has drawn up several schedules to restart the tournament depending on the remaining time frame without clashing with other sports.
The Rugby loving publics in the schools’ arena are eagerly awaiting to hear positive feedback from the relevant authorities and to see this most popular tournament in the school’s sports calendar comes alive.
