I was made to understand that there was a derogatory article about Asanga Seneviratne.
I was shocked to hear that this was orchestrated by Rizly Illyas a former President of SLR who was sacked by Sports Ministers and suspended by the World Body of Rugby. I was made to understand he has a personal vendetta against Asanga and has been posting distorted and malicious messages.
I have known Asanga since he and Graeme Labrooy stayed with me in the UK in the summer of 1986 so that he could play Premier Cricket for my Club. He had made his debut for Srilanka under 23 against Salim Malik ‘s Pakistanis just before he arrived and I was keen to help a young Thomian further his Cricket Career. He smashed a glorious hundred against Barbados and took the Surrey Premiership by storm. I followed his cricket and his Rugby Career.
On his return to Srilanka he represented Srilanka Rugby in the Hong Kong 7’s Sydney World 7’s and Dubai 7’s and Asian 15’s.
Later Asanga resurrected and restructured a struggling rugby union and made it a multi million dollar business.
He also played a major role as Chairman Sponsorship and Vice President of Srilanka Cricket for over 5 years and we entered 3 World Cup finals and won 1. I know this as I was in the UK SLC Committee.
I know personally that he spent his own funds as I did and never took a penny for his travel , accommodation and sustenance from the Rugby Union or Cricket board in his stints in these two institutions where he regularly joined and participated in overseas tours in support. He has invested and supported sports men , women , teams , clubs and national teams with millions invested of his own funds in Cricket , Rugby , Athletics, Tennis and many other sports for decades. When it comes to sport he contributes and does not expect anything in return. He has raised unmatched sponsorship in his decades of service to sports.
I spoke to him earlier and asked him for some figures of investments.
He took over as President in 2012 when SLR had a sponsorship of 8 M and by 2018 SLR had increased sponsorship to 186 M. Separate to this the International Rugby 7’s was creating 250 M plus investment with 8 franchises owned by well known Conglomerates in Srilanka backing not only their teams but had aligned with all 8 local clubs as their sponsors as well. The players were all employed by these company’s and the Mercantile Rugby 7’s became one of the marquee tournaments in the country.
The deficit Rizly Illyas keeps bring up was 21 M in May 2018. The Commonwealth Games , Asian Games , tour to France for the Paris 7’s , Borneo 7’s , accommodation and training for both women and men in preparation for these events was all conducted and paid for before he departed. The sponsorship for the year is mainly received during the mid and end of the year.
What happened to the 100 + M funds that came in after his departure and why wasn’t the debtors settled ? How did the SLR with sponsors of over 185 M end up with only a 15 M sponsorship by 2023 ? Out of this 7 M was paid to journalists and a Social media company to cover the club competitions !
SLR was ranked as high as no 2 in Asia and lost to Japan with all their main World Cup representative players playing in the Asian Games 12/10 in the semi finals. Soon after his departure We dropped to 11 th in the men’s , women’s rugby was abandoned. it’s only now under Pavithra Fernando that rugby is raising its head.
Asanga is turning NOC in to a world class institution that will focus on ensuring our athletes get the best facilities, training and opportunities. He will also ensure FairPlay and respect is afforded to all. There are a few who will do all possible to try and make his life difficult with these types of posts but anyone worth their salt know his contribution and dedicated service to sports in Srilanka and what he has achieved.
These detractors who troll from time to time are hell bent on stopping progress and are mortally scared that given time Asanga and his team will finally turn sports a round in our county. This is the only hope we have to clean up our national set up, bring back sponsors and have a person whose knowledge and experience in the field is unmatched.
The fact that he is working together with the sports ministry bringing in sponsors and about to launch an unprecedented drive to set up High Performance, Infastructure and clean up the rotten federations is something the rotters will do their best to stop.
Don’t listen to those who don’t want anyone to help this country. We are not into politics. Just want to support the best way we can.
Deepal Ahangama – President Srilanka Masters Cricket Association.
I WAS SIMPLY SHOCKED TO READ SOME OF THE CONTENTS OF THE ABOVE MESSAGE ISSUED BY DEEPAL AHANGAMA LIVING IN THE UK.
WHILE ECHOING THE SENTIMENTS EXPRESSED BY DEEPAL AHANGAMA, I WOULD LIKE TO ADD THE FOLLOWING VIEWS WHICH REFLECT MY GENUINE PERSONAL OPINION ABOUT MY GOOD FRIEND – ASANGA SENEVIRATNE WITH WHOM I HAD THE PRIVILEGE OF WORKING CLOSELY DURING MY TENURE WITH SRI LANKCRICKET’S HEADQUARTERS 2006 – 2012 AS THE HEAD OF MARKETING.
ASANGA WAS A MEMBER OF THE SRI LANKA CRICKET’S HIGH PROFILED INTERIM COMMITTEE AT THAT TIME AND HE STOOD OUT AS A PERSON OF HIGHEST CALIBER WHO CONTRIBUTED IMMENSELY TOWARDS THE WELLBEING OF SRI LANKA CRICKET.
HIS MANAGEMENT SKILLS AND LEADERSHIP QUALITIES ACQUIRED BY PLAYING MULTIPLE SPORTS AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL COUPLED WITH EFFECTIVE TEAMWORK / COMMUNICATION SKILLS ETC MAKING HIM A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS LEADER.
IT WAS INDEED A BLESSING TO THE NOC – NATIONAL OLYMPICS COMMITTEE FOR ASANGA TO BE ELECTED RECENTLY AS THE PRESIDENT OF THIS PRESTIGIOUS SPORTS BODY AS THERE IS NO DOUBT THAT HE WILL TAKE THIS ALL IMPORTANT ORGANIZATION TO GREATER HEIGHTS AND ACHIEVE ALL FUTURE ENDEAVORS !!!
I TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO WISH HIM AND HIS FAMILY THE CHOICEST BLESSINGS ALWAYS!!!
LAKITH PEIRIS – OWNER WEBSITE : www.goforgold.lk and Associated Social Media Platforms, Exclusively a Sports and Lifestyle website