Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs Roshan Ranasinghe ceremonially signed a bilateral memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Tuesday (10) with Australia’s Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs Tim Watts at Sri Lanka Cricket in order to enhance cooperation in sports between Sri Lanka and Australia.

This MoU will enable the strengthening of bilateral relations between the two countries in order to identify the fields of sports that need to be developed to showcase talent, exchange information and conduct exchange programmes for athletes and sports personnel. Further, this bilateral cooperation will provide mutual benefits for training, coaching, improving sports science and medicine, developing sports discipline and good practices, and promoting gender equality in sports. 

Moreover, this will facilitate participation in training programmes and sports competitions in Australia, and exchange experiences for future development of Sri Lankan athletes, coaches, and sports officers. 

The High Commissioner of Australia in Sri Lanka, the Secretary of the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs, and senior officials of the Ministry and Department of Sports Development participated in the ceremony. 

Speaking on the agreement, Ranasinghe said: “The signing of the MoU on sports cooperation between Sri Lanka and Australia is a remarkable moment for sportsmen and sportswomen of Sri Lanka in our journey to a sports economy.”

Meanwhile, Watts expressed his sentiments as follows: “I am pleased to renew the MoU in sports cooperation between Australia and Sri Lanka. Sports is a shared passion and links us together, highlighted by our friendly but fierce rivalry on the cricket field.”