Sports
SLC confident of LPL success despite challenges
by Rex Clementine
Sri Lanka Cricket is in for a major financial windfall with Lanka Premier League tournament getting the go ahead from health authorities after the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic delayed the event several times.
SLC will earn a total sum of US$ 10 million over a period of five years having outsourced the event to a Dubai based company – IPG.
The organizers announced that the franchise based tournament will now take place from the 27th of November to the 17th of December. However, there are still question marks about the competition.
With discussions with health authorities getting delayed, the IPG Group that has bought the rights has requested SLC for more time for the signing of the agreement. SLC has agreed for this and the board is expected to get a bank guarantee from the organizers which can be encashed on the day the tournament gets underway.
While IPG has come up with a lucrative deal that will benefit SLC there are questions about how they are going to make money.
Each franchise was initially priced at US$ one million but lack of interest saw that amount coming down to about US$ 500,000. The franchises will end up incurring further costs as they have got to pay players and look after other logistics.
While franchises earn money through sponsorships for their teams, the major portion of the revenue comes from the event itself. As per the agreement, the organizers will pay 40 percent of the television revenue to the franchises which means each franchise will receive eight percent of that money. The same module applies for the title sponsorship as well. But so far there has been no announcement made about the television deal or the main sponsor. There is speculation that Sony has bought the television rights and a gaming app will be the title sponsor. However, how much those deals are worth has not been revealed yet to get a clear idea as to whether the franchises will make money.
How much money the television companies will pay depends on the big players the organizers are able to attract for the event. The names such as Chris Gayle, Wahab Riaz, Ifran Pathan and Liam Plunkett have been thrown around and in a week’s time or so we will have a clear idea about the participants.
It is also believed that out of the five franchises, one is yet to be sold – Dambulla franchise captained by Dasun Shanaka.
This is the closest that we have come in conducting a franchise based tournament of our own since the Sri Lanka Premier League conducted a decade ago collapsed. There are several ifs and buts but observers are confident that the tournament will take place. Will it continue next year – for which to happen franchises need to make money – is something not known.
The entire tournament is slotted to take place at Hambantota with the players and production crew getting into a bio-secure bubble. There has been a concession on quarantine days with players expected to spend just seven days in isolation.
(Cricbuzz)
By A Special Sports Correspondent
All eyes will be on new entrants to rugby ‘Sri Lions Sports Club’ when they debut in the 2024/25 Inter-club league rugby tournament in Kandy on Sunday (December 15). Sri Lions are slated to take on last season’s league tournament runners-up Kandy Sports Club at the Nittawela grounds. Despite Sri Lions SC being new to domestic rugby, a thriller is expected; as the team is packed with players who are well drilled at training and the other reason being all players possess an IRB Level 1 qualification.
Sri Lions SC’s entry into division 1 rugby was not smooth. Many clubs opposed their promotion to the top league in the domestic tournament. Rugby sources told ‘The Island’ that despite the opposition shown by some clubs, Sri Lanka Rugby and other prominent sports authorities in Sri Lanka had to grant the new entrants their due place in the top league. This was largely because Sri Lions SC had made progress through the proper channel by winning the B Division rugby tournament last season.
Dr. Kelum Sujith Perera, the founder chairman of Sri Lions SC, was quoted in the newspapers saying that the club’s priority was centred around professionalism and transparency and that the club was committed to contributing to rugby development in Sri Lanka.
The club boasts of having in their line up comprising 12 former national players and a horde of talented ex-schoolboy players who have recently finished their academic commitments on a high.
The other matches scheduled for the first week of club rugby are: Sri Lanka Air Force Sports Club vs CH&FC at Ratmalana (December 13), Army Sports Club vs Police Sports Club at Panagoda, Navy Sport Club vs Havelocks SC at Welisara (Both matches on December 14).
CR&FC will be one of the teams to watch this season given that they are the reigning league rugby champions. The side is led by Gemunu Chethiya. The club upgrading their stadium to have floodlight facilities should elevate player thinking to another level. The other club to offer floodlight facilities for domestic rugby matches is Havelocks SC. However CR will not have a match in the opening week of the tournament.
Last season’s league runners-up Kandy SC are led this season by seasoned scrum half Srinath Sooriyabandara who counts years of experience playing in domestic and overseas tournaments. The side is coached by Fazil Marija. Kandy SC’s dominance in domestic rugby was broken last season and much is expected of the side from Nittawela, which is going through a team building phase at present.
CH&FC is a dangerous side to play against when the team members are gelled and focused. Last season the side finished fourth. This season the Gymkhana Club is led by Janidu Dilshan.
Havelocks SC led by Abdullah Faiz is set to finish on a high this season. The Park Club finished third in the league rugby tournament last season. Police SC, which had to be satisfied winning the ‘Plate Championship’ in the league tournament last season, will be another strong contender vying for honours . The side is led for the second consecutive year by third row forward Mohan Wimalaratne.
The other sides in the tournament are Army SC, Air Force Sports Club and Navy Sport Club.
The tournament is conducted by Sri Lanka Rugby, the governing body for the sport in the island. Rugby sources reveal that an SGM has been called on December 20 for clubs to attend with the motive of announcing the date for the much looked forward to Annual General Meeting of SLR. According to International Rugby regulations, SLR has to have it’s AGM before January 31 next year.
SLTA Hard Court Nationals
Revaan Amarasinghe and Shennon Senadheera reached the Under 12 boys singles final as they edged out their semi-final opponents at the Sri Lanka Tennis Association Hard Court Tennis Nationals at the SLTA courts on Thursday.
Amarasinghe of S.Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia beat Nuren Wevita 6-1, 6-1 in his semi-final.
In the other semi-final, Wesley’s Shannon Senadheera beat Yonal Dankumbura 7-6 (4), 6-2.
Results : Under 14 Boys quarter-final
Jayan Sebastian beat Buvidu Jayawardana 6-4, 6-3.
Damsath Peiris beat Thuvakar Sathiees 6-3, 6-4.
D. Wickramasinghe beat Umar Wayis 6-3, 6-1.
Under 18 Boys’ semi-final
Louis Knese beat Ganuka Fernando 6-4, 6-3
Women’s Singles quarter-final
Rukshika Wijesuriya beat Sandithi Usgodaarachchi 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
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