The Sri Lankan wing of the South Asian American Football League will kick off on July 15 with four franchises vying for championship honours at the Sugathadasa Stadium on July 15.
The four franchises which will vie for the honours will be Colombo Lions, Kandy Tuskers, both of whom played in 2012 with the Kandy team then dubbed as Kandy Sky Kings. In addition, there would be new two teams- Galle Dolphins and Kelani Valley Kings which will vie for honours in the local tournament and the winners would be taking on the best in India.
There would be 16 teams in India and the winners that team would be taking on some teams in Pakistan where the regional final would be held at a venue and date which is yet to be decided.
These details were disclosed in an interview with the four main stakeholders of the tournament at the Galadari Hotel on Tuesday.
The stakeholders were the President cum CEO of the Elite Football League of India In Rich Whelan whose franchise is registered in the State of Delaware in the US, Greek national Nicholas Svarnias, Franchisee of the Colombo Lions, President of the Elite Football League of India Tausif I. Shaikh. Sri Lanka’s best known and just- retired most senior International Rugby Board accredited Referee Dilroy Fernando functions as the Sri Lankan Director of the Elite Football League of India.
“This is in sharp contrast to the international tournament in Sri Lanka which was held last year, but the Sri Lankan League would be independent of the others and the winners would be flying to India and they would be participating in the finals in Pakistan where there are a lot of expectations,” Rich Whelan told Ceylon Today.
He said that there was lots of euphoria about the development of the game in Sri Lanka where it is now dubbed as the fastest growing game in the world, even ahead of the popular perception that ice hockey, the national game of Canada.
Whelan also said that the game was played in 63 countries and the popularity was growing ever. He said that his Franchise was continued to grow with a large number of agreements and contracts his League was signing in Indian Colleges and Universities.
There are a growing number of Indian cities which had agreed to form their franchises which were hitherto limited to New Delhi, Mumbai and Calcutta in 2012. There would be new entrants which will be Chennai, Punjab, Chandigarh and Lucknow.
They are also upbeat about the game spreading to the North and the East of Sri Lanka as well.
Svarnias, said that he was pretty upbeat about the game growing in Sri Lanka which had a traditional base of Rugby.
He was excited about the visible developments that were taking place here and also the fervor of the spectators regarding the sport was increasingly encouraging.
However, Whelan said that baring the Colombo Lions, all other three franchises remained with the League as of now until a proper sponsor was found.
“We are definitely not keen on large scale corporate sponsors who have unlimited stocks of money. The ideal sponsor would be the affluent, with gigantic hearts that would care for the youth and who will have the country’s interests at heart who could even take it to the regions as well, Whelan remarked.
Fernando said that the game of Amercian Football had, lots of parallels with Rugby. There was a touchdown which was the equivalent of the try which was six points and the conversion was an additional point unlike two for rugby, but the goal was seven points in all. There were penalties as well but with no points. An infringement would mean that there would not be a penalty kick a goal but the offending team would be retreating and the other team advancing.
However, the difference was that each team had 22 players, eleven in attack and 11 in defence while there was protective gear such as helmets, shoulder pads and thigh guards.
Asked whether the safety measures would attract more potential players rather than rugby, Whelan replied in the affirmative.
Responding to a question whether it was difficult for a rugby player to adjust to American Football, Fernando also said that there were the Sri Lanka rugby players Dushantha Lewke, Shenal Dias, Mohamed Sheriff and Ashen Karthelis who were playing American Football as well.
