Aelian Gunawardena at the helm of SLBF

On Jul 12, 2021

At the AGM of the Sri Lanka Basketball Federation (SLBF) held last January, the posts of President and the Treasurer that were kept vacant due to technical reasons, were finally filled by Aelian Gunawardena, who was elected uncontested while Thushara Suraweera was elected treasurer. They will serve until May 2024.

Aelian, a former Thomian, had been heavily involved in Basketball, captaining the school’s teams from the age of 13 years which earned him the College Colours for four years. Apart from Basketball, he also played rugby-football representing the College sevens team. He is the founder and Managing Director of JAT Holdings, which was inaugurated 28 years ago and which is to be listed in the Sri Lanka Stock Exchange at the end of this month.

“I am honoured and humbly accept this responsibility. Let me thank the Kandy, Gampaha, Batticaloa and Kurunegala District Basketball Associations for proposing my name and the Election Committee, the Office Bearers and ExCo for appointing me uncontested to the post of President of SLBF. Let me also congratulate Thushara Suraweera on his appointment as our Treasurer .”

“At the outset I assure you that I will work diligently to study and prioritize our goals, all of which I believe you have already discussed or agreed on in the past. With the support of my team I will work to achieve the set goals. I am pretty confident that my team and I will be able to rejuvenate the game to become one of the top sports in the country while regaining its lost pride,” the visionary newly elected President Aelian Gunawardene said.