Etisalat Supports the Carlton Super 7’s kick off

This October and November Sri Lankan rugby fans will be treated to the largest international rugby event to hit the country; the Carlton Super 7’s Sri Lanka 2011. Etisalat will be reprising their role as telecommunications sponsor this year, as the tournament looks to take Sri Lankan Rugby to the next level by constructing teams using a combination of local, foreign and school team players. The first leg of the tournament will be held at the Nittawala grounds in Kandy on 29 and 30 of October, with the second leg scheduled to be held at the Royal Sports Complex in Colombo, on 5 and 6 of November.

Carlton, the sports wing of ‘Tharunyata Hetak’, the island’s largest youth organisation, in association with The Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union (SLRFU), The Asian Rugby Football Union (ARFU) and The International Rugby Union (IRB) will be the organisers of the event. The event itself is an effort to boost youth activity in Sri Lanka while also building Sri Lanka as a destination for sports tourism.

Commenting on their role as Telecommunications Partner Etisalat CEO, Dumindra Ratnayaka, said “As telecommunications partner for the second consecutive year we are proud to support the Carlton Super 7’s as they take this years tournament to a whole new level. Nothing like this has been done before, combining local and international players in a franchise team format gives this tournament a unique dimension and draws international recognition to rugby in our country. At Etisalat we admire the initiative of Carlton in driving the development of sports in the nation, as we too are always looking for ways to drive innovation in Sri Lanka.”

The unique feature of this year’s tournament is that instead of different nations fielding different teams, athletes from nations such as New Zealand, Fiji and other major rugby countries will be combining with prominent players in Sri Lanka’s club rugby scene and school rugby teams, to make ten franchise teams.

Each team will have to field two international players, two A-graded local Club players and one under 21 school ruby player at all times.