Airtel Lanka continues to Scrum St. Peter’s College Rugby

March, 21, 2014

On board as principle sponsor for the third consecutive year

Bharti Airtel, a leading global telecommunications company with operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa, today announced the renewal of its partnership for the year 2014 as the principle sponsor of the St. Peter’s College Rugby team. Having supported rugby at St. Peter’s since 2012, the partnership renewed for the third consecutive year further fortifies Airtel Lanka’s position as a global telecommunications giant keen on supporting and uplifting school sports in the island.

St. Peter’s College was the fourth school to play Rugby at a competitive level in Sri Lanka. Shirley Illesinghe brought the first victory to St Peter’s in 1934. This historic match was played against Royal College with a win of 5-0. In 2013 the St. Peter’s rugby team made its mark by winning the All Island Under-18 and Under–20 Inter-School Rugby Sevens Championships and was placed third in the League Championships. In the year 2014, the St. Peter’s Rugby team has already won the Under 18 Interschool Rugby 7s Championships and made it to the Semi Finals in the Under 20 category.

Currently the St. Peter’s Rugby team is placed in Division 1, Group A and are looking forward to an exciting season this year. St. Peter’s last won the Inter-school Rugby League Championship in the year 2010.

Commenting on the renewal of sponsorship Suren Goonewardene, CEO – Sri Lanka, Bharti Airtel said, “Airtel Lanka has always placed great emphasis on promoting our brand through dynamic and energetic sponsorships and a game such as Rugby fits perfectly with our attempt. Rugby is played passionately by the youth of our country and Airtel Lanka as a leading supporter of Sri Lankan sports is proud to be a part of nurturing sports and sportsmen and women from a very young age. We see a great amount of potential and energy in the St. Peter’s College Rugby team. Therefore we indeed very pleased be their sponsor for the third time and wish them all the very best for yet another successful season.”

“St. Peter’s College is privileged to have Airtel supporting the rugby team yet again this year. Rugby at College has improved tremendously during the last few years and we intend working towards a successful season this year as well. While I wish to thank Airtel for their constant support and encouragement I hope they continue to be associated with College Rugby and assist us to take St. Peter’s College sports to new heights” stated Rev. Fr. Trevor Martin, Rector, St. Peter’s College.”

Airtel Lanka made its foray into the field of sports sponsorships in the year 2012 through its associations with Manchester United and Football, Rugby, Tennis, Golf, Rowing and Basketball. The company has been involved in the development of sports, as evidenced by its various sponsorships at school level, district level and island wide. While Airtel Lanka continues to be involved beyond just a mere investment with all its sports sponsorships stakeholders, it is committed to developing local talent to international standards, thus contributing actively towards the positive development of youth in Sri Lanka.

About Bharti Airtel Limited: Bharti Airtel Limited is a leading global telecommunications company with operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa. Headquartered in New Delhi, India, the company ranks amongst the top 4 mobile service providers globally in terms of subscribers. In India, the company's product offerings include 2G, 3G and 4G wireless services, mobile commerce, fixed line services, high speed DSL broadband, IPTV, DTH, enterprise services including national & international long distance services to carriers. In the rest of the geographies, it offers 2G, 3G wireless services and mobile commerce. Bharti Airtel had over 262 million customers across its operations at the end of December 2012. To know more please visit, www.airtel.com

About Bharti Airtel Lanka (Pvt.) Ltd: Bharti Airtel Lanka commenced commercial operations of services in Sri Lanka on January 12, 2009, and was the fastest operator to reach 1 million customers in Sri Lanka. With its network footprint panned out across the country and capturing strategic ranking positions in various areas in less than three years of operations, Airtel has emerged as Sri Lanka’s fastest expanding network. Registered under the Board of Investment in Sri Lanka, Airtel Lanka provides digital mobile services into Sri Lanka which includes voice telephony, voice mail, data services and GSM based services. The Company has also received accreditations such as ISO 27001:2005 and ISO 22301 for its continuous efforts towards information security and business continuity. To know more please visit, www.airtel.lk

Photo caption: St. Peter’s first fifteen squad with Collin Denesh- Coach, Chandrashekar Singh Chauhan Head of Marketing - Bharti Airtel Lanka, Charith de Chickera Head of Brands and Marketing Communications - Bharti Airtel Lanka, Fr Trevor Martin Rector - St. Peter’s College and Fr Lakmin Silva Sports Coordinator - St. Peter's College

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