NDB and the Sri Lanka Society of Rugby Football Referees team up for a winning partnership

NDB Bank Senior Manager – Legal Avanthi Bandara, AVP/Head of Marketing Darshana Jayasinghe, SVP – Personal Banking and Customer Experience Sanjaya Perera, Director/CEO Dimantha Seneviratne, SLSRFR President Dinka Peiris, Treasurer Madhawa Wijesiri, Secretary Jeffrey Shahid

As a responsible local bank committed to empowering the community, NDB Bank has often contributed to the betterment of sports. In its latest bid to further this commitment, the bank has extended a hand to empower youth sports through a partnership with the Sri Lanka Rugby Football Referees (SLSRFR) as its “Official Banking Partner”. The official signing of the partnership agreement was held on NDB, and SLSRFR signed a partnership agreement in April 2023 for a period of three years, which is valid for the next three years.

Commenting on this partnership, NDB CEO Dimantha Seneviratne said, “We look forward to our partnership with the Sri Lanka Society of Rugby Football Referees and the support we can extend to Sri Lankan rugby and football.” Advancement in sports and sports personalities are a part of the holistic progress of any country. As Sri Lanka is gradually emerging from the many hardships it encountered in the recent past, it is important that the field of sports is also extended the support it requires. NDB is pleased to take a lead role in this regard, he further added.

SLSRFR President Dinka Peiris stated that, “It’s indeed an honour to be partners with NDB under the theme of ‘The future is banking on us’, and this partnership will go hand in hand to the development of referees around the country.” Also commented that financial strength is of utmost importance to grow and the partnership will serve to strengthen and pave the way for the development of Rugby.

Simultaneously, since rugby is one of the most popular sports in the country with a wide television viewership and social media presence, this partnership will augur well in enhancing NDB’s brand visibility amongst the masses and, in particular, the youth segment. NDB’s dynamic product portfolio offers banking solutions to customers of all profiles, and the youth are served with a dedicated proposition dubbed NDB ZEE and augmented by NDB’s user-friendly digital banking proposition NEOS.

NDB Bank has a long history of playing an active role in the country’s youth empowerment and the advancement of sports. Thereby, driven under the bank’s ‘The future is banking on us’ theme and keeping in line with the bank’s sustained efforts to support Sri Lankan sports from the grassroots to the highest levels, this partnership is a strategic opportunity to honour its commitments.

The Sri Lanka Society of Rugby Football Referees was formed with the approval of the Ceylon Rugby Football Union, now known as the Sri Lanka Rugby Union. The very first rugby match in Sri Lanka was a sevens match played in Ratnapura in 1931, and subsequently, in 1953, a referee society was formed. In addition, at present, the SLSRFR observes all club and school rugby football matches, with a minimum of three and a maximum of six referees per match. Currently, there are 103 referees in the SLSRFR.