Dilip Kumar
Most Sri Lankan rugby followers would be surprised to know that one of their fellow countrymen named Dilip Kumar captured one of the most coveted jobs in Australia when he became the head of Australia Rugby whose team the Wallabies has the world’s second largest following after New Zealand’s famed All Blacks team.
Kumar was educated at Trinity College in Kandy from 1957 to 1970 and subsequently graduated from the Dave Syme Business School of Monash University and the Howard Business School in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
In Australia he enhanced his passion for rugby at domestic club level and later joined the New South Wales Rugby Union board and was its chairman for four years and was responsible in converting the New South Wales Rugby Union from a 6.5 million dollar deficit to a 3.5 million dollar surplus.
From 2000 to 2006 Kumar was a member of the Australian Rugby Union Board and was the head of the Finance and Audit Committee during the Rugby World Cup 2003 which resulted in a profit of 75 million dollars and in 2005 he was appointed the chairman of the Australian Rugby Union and also served as a member of the International Rugby Board.
Kumar’s quest to conquer and surpass boundaries took him to the Australian outback promoting rugby among thousands of aboriginal children in remote regions while at the same time ensuring them of a school education and successful employment.
A down-to-earth trend setter and crusader, Kumar is also the custodian of the Australian Medal for Services to Rugby bestowed on him by the Government of Australia.
He is also the owner of a vineyard and an olive grove that brought him many an Award and owns one of Australia’s largest private automotive groups.
His credentials and achievements exposes the hollow noises made by many Sri Lankans calling the shots in the island in sports, politics and finance.
