BoC funds rural athletics for Rs. 11.5m

Published : 1:21 pm  July 26, 2012 |  One comment  |     |   (34)  |  

The Bank of Ceylon has come forward to serve the rural athletes in a big way. It has signed a sponsorship package worth Rs. 11.5 million for a period of five years.  This will be handed over to the Sri Lanka Athletic Association in five installments of Rs. 2.3 million per year.

The sponsorship documents were signed recently at the National Olympic House Auditorium by President of Sri Lanka Athletic AssociationMajor General Daya Ratnayake and Chief Marketing Officer T. Muthugala in the presence of the Minister of Sports Mahindananda Aluthgamage, Director General of Sports Ranjni Jayakody, Chairman Bank of Ceylon Gamini Wickramasinghe and Secretary of the SLAA Rear Admiral Shyamal Fernando.

The sponsorship was made possible due to the great efforts made by the Minister of Sports, who said the money allocated to develop sport in the country was not sufficient and he was of the opinion that the private sector should come to assist sports in a big way especially athletics.

”My efforts have brought in good results and this money will only be utilized to develop athletics in rural areas by way of giving the necessary equipment needed for young sports stars. By doing so we will be able to find new talent from the rural areas,” the Minister said.