Rugby needs a strategic partner who thinks beyond money - Kishu Gomes

Managing Director and CEO of Chevron Lubricants Lanka Limited, Kishu Gomes said yesterday that rugby football in Sri Lanka needs a strategic partner who would think beyond money and stay with the game in the long term.

He said that the Caltex would honour their existing sponsorship with the Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union (SLRFU) that is valid up to 2014 and that they have no intension whatsoever to abandon it.

“The legal agreement Caltex has entered into with SLRFU covering the annual league and the knockout tournaments is valid up to 2014. However, SLRFU has made their intentions clear to re-negotiate the deal with Caltex. There is no question of Caltex pulling out of the tournament,” he said.

He said that Caltex would honour the legal contract to the last word and the partnership could end prematurely “only if SLRFU decided to dishonour the agreement”. Gomes said that “there is an agreed fee and there is no question on continuation at that agreed fee”. “It’s my fervent hope that SLRFU would have the foresight to make the right decision for the sake of the game,” he said.

Gomes, one of Sri Lanka's leading sports promoters in the big league, said that Caltex has sponsored rugby for over 13 years, having started the partnership at a time the SLRFU was in dire need of funds to keep the two national tournaments afloat.

“My speech at the Caltex-Observer rugby awards ceremony for the love of the game and to express our desire to continue the sponsorship has received a lot of attention over the past two weeks. Subsequent to this speech, I was inundated with a large number of telephone calls. Those who called extended their sincere support, words of encouragement and the expression of gratitude for what Caltex has done for the game of rugby over the past 13 years which I believe is the longest uninterrupted sports sponsorship in the history of Sri Lanka,” he added.

“I thank all those who contacted me that included the past presidents, successive committee members, ardent rugby fans, club officials and a large number of media friends. Unfortunately, certain interpretations of my speech by some stakeholders have led to miscommunication,” Gomes said.

The Chevron Lubricants chief said they have done their best to promote the game for the past 13 years and in the process has pumped over Rs 450 million, including the royalty payments made to SLRFU. “While the game has gained popularity through the journey, it has a long way to go before it reaches a satisfactory level,” he continued.

He added that Caltex has not looked at the contract merely to get the mileage but to encourage youth in sport as a true corporate citizen. “I argued that the game is understood by only a small percentage of our total population across the country; Kandy being the only exception, perhaps Colombo having a fairly good percentage of awareness but not enough yet.

Only a small number of schools play the game out of the 9000 schools in the country. The number of clubs is still very small and the number of players playing the game is limited too,” he said.

He is of the view that if a game is truly popular there is no need for the sponsors or organizers to pay the total cost of a live telecast of matches.