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| Sunday, 7 August 2005 |
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Rugby Asiad in Colombo Nov. 17 to 26 by Lal Gunesekera New Zealander George Simpkin will be contracted for 15 months from September 1 by the Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union (SLRFU) as national coach and will be paid a sum of US Dollars 2000/- (Rs. 2 lakhs) a month. His term will be till the end of the Asiad in Colombo in November next year (2006). The President of the SLRFU, Priyantha Ekanayake, said that Simpkin will not be a burden to the SLRFU, who will get the New Zealander's obligations met by sponsors. Simpkin who has helped Sri Lanka qualify for the third-round of the Rugby World Cup 2007 (Asian region), is presently away in his motherland, but is due to arrive in the country on August 18. Simpkin has been helping the SLRFU and coaching the national side too, for a few years and was earlier paid US Dollars 4000/- (Rs. 4 lakhs) a month. Ekanayake said that Simpkin had served the SLRFU for the past one year "free of charge" since he resigned in September last year (2004). Ekanayake further said that it has now been confirmed that the Asiad in Colombo will be staged from November 17 to 26 and that 17 countries are expected to participate. He further said: "The Asian Rugby Football Union (ARFU) will finalise the format which will be known by next week the latest, but Japan and South Korea have finally agreed to play their 2007 RWC Asian Qualifier in Colombo during this period." Ekanayake also said that countries have time till June next year (2006) to confirm their participation at the Colombo Asiad which is likely to be sponsored by Singer (Sri Lanka) Limited with two other co-sponsors. The entire cost of staging the Asiad in Colombo could be around Rs. 14 million and matches are likely to be played at four venues (Longden Place, Sugathadasa Stadium, Royal College Sports Complex and Havelock Park), but the venues have not yet been finalised. Meanwhile, the Secretary of the SLRFU, Dilroy Fernando, has been appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and his main responsibility will be to find sponsors and organising various projects for the SLRFU and will remain at least till the end of next year's Asiad in Colombo. Ekanayake further said that at the last Council meeting, they decided unanimously on Fazal Mohamed taking over as Secretary of the SLRFU, but his appointment will have to be ratified at a special general meeting to be held soon. Sri Lanka will also compete at the Rugby 7's at the Commonwealth Games to be staged in Melbourne, Australia in March next year (2006). The selectors will be able to pick talent from the Singer-SriLankan Airlines International 7's to be staged at Nittawela next month (September), the Singer 7's Circuit (Koggala on November 19 and 20 and Colombo on November 26 and 27), Mercantile 7's in December and the Inter-Club 7's in January next year (2006) before selecting the national pool. It was also disclosed that Singer (Sri Lanka) Limited will pump in Rs. 1 million to develop the Koggala grounds, which is owned by the BOI, and that a former SLRFU President, Y.C. Chang, who also headed the ARFU too at one stage, heads the strategic planning for Development Committee of the SLRFU and will come up with his proposals soon. Ekanayake also said that 90 per cent of funds from the International Rugby Board (IRB) will be utilised for provincial development. Also present at the media briefing were Dilroy Fernando (CEO) and Shantha Kurumbalapitiya (Treasurer of SLRFU). *** 'King Charles' of Police and rugby fame no more 'King Charles' as Charles Wijewardene was known in rugby circles is no more. A Superintendent of Police, Wijewardene, who was stationed in Jaffna was murdered by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE) on Thursday afternoon. Wijewardene (58) was a superb place-kicker and a match winner with his spot on kicks at goal. Hailing from Vidyartha in Kandy, he joined the Sri Lanka Air Force in 1968 and later the Police in 1972 as a Sub-Inspector (SI). A full-back, Wijewardene, who was an unassuming and soft spoken personality, not only played rugby for Vidyartha, Air Force and Police, but also for the CR & FC in the insurgency year of 1971 together with two other Airmen (Viper Gunaratne and Lofty Perera). Police won the Clifford Cup in 1979 under Wijewardene's captaincy. He also represented Sri Lanka with distinction and was a member of Dr. Indrajith Coomaraswamy's side that entered the final of the Asiad in Colombo in 1974. He Leaves behind his wife and three children. L. G. |
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