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Asanga has been nominated for the post and the Annual General Meeting of ARFU will be held in Cambodia from 6 to 8 December.
Seneviratne, whose nomination was uncontested, is a popular figure among the Asian body and he has won the respect of many of his colleagues with his visionary approach to the development of the game. Seneviratne’s candidacy was supported by Japan and India, who jointly proposed his name and the nomination has been seconded by the UAE.
The Asian Rugby Football Union (ARFU) is the regional governing body of rugby union in Asia. ARFU was founded in 1968 with eight participating countries – Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand. Its purpose was to provide international competition between its members by staging a biannual tournament.
From eight countries in 1968, the ARFU has grown to encompass 28 countries today and its membership ranges from Lebanon in the West to Japan in the East and from Mongolia in the North to Indonesia in the South.
ARFU members actively participate in semi-annual council meetings and are supported by working committees to oversee rugby in Asia. ARFU organises and manages five major tournaments per year for Men, Women and Youth and continually explores new and innovative opportunities to develop rugby in Asia.
The vision of the ARFU is that Rugby in Asia is more than a sport and it has set out five strategic priorities for the sport, which are:
1. Grow rugby in Asia
2. Improve competition standards in Asia
3. Maximise value of the 2019 RWC
4. Improve governance and leadership
5. Maximise the profile and commercial value of rugby in the region
Seneviratne’s vast experience as an astute business leader will make him a valuable asset to the ARFU council as they strive to develop the sport in the Asian region.
Seneviratne will join the new team of Trevor Gregory, the present Vice President who takes over the Presidency from Thailand’s Adisak Hemyoo.
Seneviratne said it was a great honour for a Sri Lankan to be holding a key position in the ARFU and also an opportunity to consolidate Sri Lanka’s position in the region and enhance its standing in world rankings. “The appointment will give me an opportunity to help to take Asian rugby forward with some new innovative developments and on the other hand it will afford me a chance to take Sri Lanka rugby to world standard,” he said. Seneviratne is vastly experienced in the business industry in Sri Lanka and is presently the Chairman of leading Sri Lanka finance company Nations Lanka Finance PLC.
A former national rugby player, Seneviratne also played cricket for his school S. Thomas’ College and represented the Colombo Cricket Club in first class cricket He also served as the Vice President of Sri Lanka Cricket in 2012.
Since his appointment as SLRFU President in 2012, Seneviratne has enjoyed something of the Midas touch about his initiatives, with every one of them turning into golden opportunities to enhance the quality of rugby in Sri Lanka. Under his leadership Sri Lanka has made giant strides in the sport and climbed several notches up the international rankings.
Sri Lanka won the Asian five nations division one championship to earn a berth in the top segment next year which is also considered as a World Cup qualifier. The Sri Lanka Sevens team emerged overall third in the recently-concluded Asian Rugby Sevens tournaments and are behind Japan and Hong Kong who are ranked first and second respectively.
Another feather in Seneviratne’s cap was the successful staging of the inaugural International Tri-nations tournament in Sri Lanka which for the first time featured three teams – Poland, Madagascar and Sri Lanka – from three distinct regions – Europe, Africa and Asia. The organisation of the tournament came in for high praise by some of the rugby stalwarts who were in Sri Lanka to witness the games.
