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ANCL Chairman Nalin Ladduwahetty said that he was happy to hear that Caltex will support rugby football and sponsor the game for three more years.

He said that in the seventies and eighties rugby grounds were full when matches were played, but in the nineties crowds dwindled and the motivation that the players got from the crowds died down and the standards too dropped as a result.

Crowds motivate the players and the players used to perform as a result. In the good old days there was Saman Jayasinghe and Hisham Abdeen and company who were drawcards whenever they played. Mr. Ladduwahetty said that he was happy that efforts are being made by sponsors Caltex and the Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union to popularise the sport and bring it back to the high pedestal it occupied some years back.

The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited for its part will support the SLRFU in its endeavour to raise the standard of rugby football in the country.

Mr. Vajira Abeysinghe, Head of Sales and Marketing of Caltex said that they stepped in to support rugby football when the SLRFU were in dire need of a sponsor in 1999. He said that sponsoring rugby football was just one of the many sponsorship undertakings that his company took on.

There were community-based projects like the sponsorship of the Ratmalana Deaf School netball for another three years and that type of sponsorship goes beyond the sport and then there was the sponsorship of Seevali Central School in boxing.

Seevali Central in Ratnapura were champs in boxing for many years with little or no facilities at all. "We realised that the school needed a lot of help because they didn't have the basic needs for boxing." said Abeysinghe. Then motor sports is one of the main sports that they were able to elevate to the top order with the help of the riders and drivers.

In cricket, Caltex sponsor the SSC team and they also have taken on to sponsor indoor cricket with the sponsorship package extended to the Sri Lanka national team for the World Cup in New Zealand and will continue with the sponsorship for the World Cup to be held in Sri Lanka. (A.C. de S)

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