Dubai, United Arab Emirates, December 25, 2024: Asia Rugby’s Executive Committee convened virtually last week for an ad-hoc meeting and appointed Sri Lanka’s Asanga Seneviratne and Singaporean Vela Tan as Independent Officers.
The executive committee has also confirmed the appointment of key chairpersons for the period of 2025-2028, and introduced four new committees aimed at advancing Asia Rugby’s strategic goals.
Asia Rugby EXCO confirmed the following to spearhead its committees:
Administration & Finance: Terence Khoo, Singapore
Advisory: Professor Zu’bi Al Zu’bi, Jordan
Athletes: Michael Leitch, Japan
Audit & Risk: Raju Lal, India
Competitions: Asanga Seneviratne, Sri Lanka
Development: Mohamad Jarkou, Syria
Digital Transformation: Gerald Prabhu, India
Ethics & Governance: Tanka Lal Ghising, Nepal
International Relations: Mirmehdi Hosseini, Iran
Judiciary: Ramesh Lachmanan from Malaysia
Match Officials: Rizwan Malik, Pakistan
Sport and Environment: Nalin De Silva, Sri Lanka
Sport for All: Sayeed Ahmed, Bangladesh
The Nominations Committee will be led by Vela Tan, who will be assisting the committees’ chairpersons in refining and developing the relevant terms of reference and identifying competent committee deputies and members.
This will be achieved through an in-depth consideration to fair representation of the continent's five sub-regions and improving the achieved 32 per cent female inclusion across all committees.
The four new committees to meet the evolving needs of the sport are: International Relations Committee, Digital Transformation Committee, Sport for All Committee and Sport and Environment Committee.
Asia Rugby President Qais Al Dhalai praised the introduction of the new committees as a significant step toward sustainable growth and inclusivity.
“These committees mark the beginning of a new phase for Asia Rugby, ensuring we continue to innovate, grow and uphold our core values. As we finalise the committees over the next month, we will prioritise representation from all sub-regions and strengthen our commitment to female inclusion.
“We hope this brings us closer to achieving our target of 40 per cent female representation on committees, reinforcing our defining principles of Equality, Transparency and Accountability.
“The addition of these committees highlights Asia Rugby’s dedication to fostering a dynamic and progressive rugby landscape across the continent,” President Qais added.