Dambulla Viikings

From TobaccoUnmasked

Background

Dambulla Viikings is a franchise Cricket team playing for the Lanka Premier League (LPL) 2020 cricket tournament in Sri Lanka. Dambulla is a town situated in the Central Province of Sri Lanka. Rangiri Dambulla International Cricket Stadium, in Dambulla, is the first and only International cricket stadium in the dry zone of Sri Lanka. It is located in a land owned by the Rangiri Dambulu Vihaaraya, one of the main Buddhist worship sites and a tourist attraction in Sri Lanka, and leased to Sri Lanka Cricket to develop a cricket stadium.[1] Sri Lankan Cricketer Dasun Shanaka is the Captain and the former England cricketer Owais Shah is the Coach of the Dambulla Viikings.[2]

Initially, the team was named as “Dambulla Hawks” and then changed to ”Dambulla Lions” in early November 2020.[3] “Dambulla Lions” became “Dambulla Viikings” with the purchase of the team by the Bollywood actor, Sachiin Joshi, the Chairman of Viiking Ventures Pvt Limited.[4][5][6][7]

Image 1: A post published by Sachiin Joshi in his twitter account on expansion of business with the purchase of Dambulla Viikings. Source: Twitter[8]

Links to the Tobacco Industry

Viiking Ventures, headquartered at Mumbai, India, is a group of companies with various business entities including food and beverages, marketing, innovation, travel, supply chain, human resource, sales, brand management, luxury, fitness and consumer goods, hospitality, media and entertainment.[5] According to their official website, Viiking Foods India Pvt. Limited, a partner company, engages in procuring and processing paan masala. Paan masala, a mixture of areca nut, herbs, spices and tobacco wrapped in a betel leaf, is, in actuality, a smokeless tobacco product.[9]

Viiking Ventures also trade Goa Nicofix Chewing Gum, a nicotine based chewing gum, listed in their website as a ‘Nicotine Replacement Therapy’.[10][11][12] Viiking Beverages Pvt Limited, a partner company of Viiking Ventures, manufactures alcoholic beverages under different brands.[13][14]

Image 2: A post published about the official partners of Dambulla Viikings. Source: Twitter[15]

GOA Kings, the beer brand of Viiking Beverages was mentioned as a partner of Dambulla Viikings in a poster posted in Twitter by Sachiin Joshi.[15][13][16] Trademarks of each partner is displayed on the Dambulla Viiking’s sports jersey and the logo of the GOA Kings is displayed on the back adjacent to the name and the number of the player.[17]

Image 3: Back of the sports jersey of Dambulla Viikings. Source: Facebook[17]

National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol (NATA) Act, No 27 of 2006, the regulatory framework of tobacco and alcohol in Sri Lanka, prohibits sponsorship by the alcohol industry mentioning products and FCTC Article 13 recommends to reject sponsorships from the tobacco industry, specifically for sports events.

Tobacco Unmasked Resources

The local language translations

TobaccoUnmasked_Sinhala
TobaccoUnmasked_Tamil



Notes

  1. ↑ ESPNcricinfo. Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium, Undated, accessed December 2020
  2. ↑ Dambulla Viikings. Dambulla Viikings, Undated, accessed December 2020
  3. ↑ Chandrila Fernando. Lanka Premier League set to start on November 26, Daily News, 9 November 2020, accessed December 2020
  4. ↑ Dambulla Viikings. About the owner, Undated, accessed December 2020
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Linkedin. Sachiin Joshi, Undated, accessed December 2020
  6. ↑ Sri Lanka Mirror. Sachin Joshi buys Dambulla team in LPL, 14 November 2020, accessed December 2020
  7. ↑ Newswire. Another name change for LPL team Dambulla, 14 November 2020, accessed December 2020
  8. ↑ Twitter. Sachiin, 17 November 2020, accessed December 2020
  9. ↑ Viiking Ventures. Viiking Foods India Pvt. Ltd., Undated, accessed December 2020
  10. ↑ Indiamart. Chewing Gum, Undated, accessed December 2020
  11. ↑ Moviez Adda. Sachin Joshi Boman Irani Promotes Anti-Smoking @ Lakme Fashion Week 2014 !, YouTube, 25 August 2014, accessed December 2020
  12. ↑ White Rivers Media. Goa Nico Fix Celebrity Cricket League Compilation, YouTube, 21 February 2014, accessed December 2020
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Viiking Beverages. Our Brands, Undated, accessed December 2020
  14. ↑ LinkedIn. Viiking Beverages, Undated, accessed December 2020
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Twitter. Sachiin, 28 November 2020, accessed December 2020
  16. ↑ Mansion Royale. Group Viiking Brands, Undated, accessed December 2020
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Facebook. Sachiin j joshi, 24 November 2020, accessed December 2020
Retrieved from "https://www.tobaccounmasked.com/index.php?title=Dambulla_Viikings&oldid=2428"