Hon. Namal Rajapakse the youngest Minister of Sports and Youth affairs

Hon. Namal Rajapakse the youngest Minister of Sports and Youth affairs

8/13/2020 7:16:22 AM

Hon. Namal Rajapaksa was appointed as the minister of sports and youth affairs in the newly appointed cabinet under the leadership of Hon. Prime minster, Mahinda Rajapaksa and his Excellency, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Thus he becomes the 18th in line to hold the Sports portfolio and is the youngest sports Minister at the age of 34

The SLPP (Sri Lanka People's Front) won the recently held general elections with a big margin claiming 145 seats in which Hon. Namal Rajapakse played a crucial role to bring his party to victory.

Hon. Namal Rajapaksa, is the son of Hon. Mahinda Rajapaksa, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka and Madam Shiranthi Rajapaksa. He had his education at S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia, and played rugby from the junior level onwards, going on to captain the school's 1st XV rugby team in 2005. He also led the Sri Lanka under 19 team in 2004 in the junior Asiad in China.

After school he joined Cardiff University to study law, and then went to City University London from where he graduated in September 2009 with a third-class law degree. After that he joined the Sri Lanka Law College to qualify as an attorney at law.

He continued to play rugby the sport he loves with passion. At Cardiff University he played in the university's rugby team from 2005 to 2006. He also played for City University London from 2006 to 2009. In 2009 he first played for the Navy SC, who he captained in 2010-11. In 2010 Rajapaksa was invited to play for the Sri Lanka national rugby union team, and in 2013 was appointed the team's captain, a position he retained until he retired from competitive rugby in July 2014.

He went on to follow his grandfather and father’s footsteps in politics, by first contesting the 2010 parliamentary election as a United People's Freedom Alliance's candidate in the Hambantota District and was elected to Parliament. He went on to contest the 2015 general election and further secured a seat in parliament. In the recently concluded general election, he came first for his party in the Hambanthota district gaining 166,660 preferential votes.

A very energetic and enthusiastic person, Hon. Namal Rajapaksa surely will be looking to put sports in Sri Lanka on the right track. Sri Lanka rugby has worked very closely with him in the past successfully, when he was instrumental in conducting the Carlton 7’s series in Sri Lanka for a number of years.

The President, Exco committee members and Sri Lanka Rugby, take this opportunity to wish Hon. Namal Rajapakse, Minister of Sports and Youth affairs all the very best and a successful stint in his new appointment as Minister. Sri Lanka Rugby looks forward for a brighter and prosperous future for rugby in the years to come.