The much talked about 11.11.11 became a historical day indeed for Sri Lanka sports as Colombo Lions the Sri Lanka’s first ever professional American style football team was unveiled in a grand fashion at the Cinnamon Lakeside Hotel in Colombo.
The team will be the first Sri Lankan team to take part in the Elite Football League of India (EFLI) which is schedule to host its first tournament in November, 2012.
EFLI a brainchild of Ms. Sunday Zeller was launched in India in 2011 has become a huge success with 8 franchises and over 474 players. Ms. Sunday Zeller speaking at the press conference said that the aim of EFLI is to spread love across the continent. According to its energetic CEO Mr. Richard Whelan, EFLI has become the world’s largest underground sports movement during this short period of time. He also stated that this will become Asia’s most lucrative sports industry in a few years’ time. He hopes to attract 120,000 spectators for the opening game which is scheduled to be held in Pune in November next year. Answering questions raised by thescore.lk Mr. Whelan stated that EFLI is planning to spread this into the universities and has already signed 8 universities in India. He also stated that all the players are on pay roll and will be full time professionals.
Dilroy Fernando the man behind the Colombo Lions, who is also the COO of the EFLI Sri Lanka Chapter, stated that all the players will be paid more than what they earn through Club Rugby. It will be something around 400-500 US Dollars per month, he added. Dilroy speaking further stated that Sri Lanka will be adding another team to the league soon which will be based in Kandy and go by the name Kandy Tuskers. With the success of these two teams Ruhuna will get another team in a few years time he added.
Members of the Mumbai Gladiators team and Pakistan franchise were also present at the event.
Indian teams that are participating are Bhubaneswar Warhawks, Mumbai Gladiators, Hyderabad Skykings, Goa Swarm, Pune Black Tigers, Kolkata Vipers, Delhi Defenders, Punjab Warriors.
