CPL’s Stop & Shop brand has come on board as Gold sponsor for the 2023 Capital Rugby Union (CRU) season with K70, 000.
The partnership was made official in a mock-cheque presentation in Port Moresby.
The sponsorship aims to promote teamwork and healthy and active lifestyles through sport and Stop & Shop brand.
CPL Group CEO Navin Raju said: “For any sport to do well in the nation you need to have strong foundations and what we’ve found is that CRU has got very strong foundation in terms of the committee, in terms of the people that are involved in running this program and also in terms of the strategy they have in developing our talent.
“This is one of the most talented sporting nation but we just don’t have the infrastructure and the people out there who can actually take direct that all into a sports quote that this happening in its field.”
CRU is the oldest premier rugby union competition in Papua New Guinea, with five divisions and over eight clubs participating, including women's and junior competitions.
CRU Vice President, John Nilkare, highlighted the ambitious plans and programs of the union, which need financial support to come to life. He acknowledged the importance of corporate sponsors and partners in raising the bar and code of rugby union in the country.
He said, “We pride ourselves as the number one union in the country and we’re trying to set the benchmark for the country, our ambition is to raise rugby union in the country raise the bar raise the code to another level. A big thank you on behalf of the whole CRU community to CPL.
“We will use this money wisely, we will invest into the game, we will grow the game and make CPL and all of its staff proud of what CRU can do for them.”
The 2023 season is currently underway and concludes in August.