Platinum Awards (Sinhala:සිරස ප්ලැටිනම් සම්මාන) is an award bestowed to distinguished individuals involved with the sports in Sri Lanka, who lifted the country in local and international level. The award will present in each year by the MTV / MBC Network in collaboration with many sponsors. The first Platinum awards were held in 2014. Platinum Awards, is the first ever sports awards ceremony started in Sri Lanka and thus dubbed “The Oscars of sports awards ceremonies in Sri Lanka”.[1]
The press conference about the launch of the Sports1st Mobitel Platinum Awards Ceremony was held on 26 September 2014. Capital Maharaja news network called News First collaborated with Mobitel Sri Lanka to launch first Platinum Awards in 2014. To educate the people about the ceremony, a promotion vehicle travelled from one village to village by starting the journey from Jaffna on 29 September 2014.[2][3]
Applications for the Most Popular Sportsperson could be handed over to the promotion vehicle, which closed on October 31, 2014. Over 5,000 applications were received for the 21 award categories at the First Platinum Awards. The Awards night was held on 30 November 2014 at Sirasa Stein Studios, Ratmalana.[4][5] Sri Lanka national cricket captain Angelo Mathews won the Most Popular Sports Person of The Year Award.[6]
The second Platinum ceremony launching started with January 2017, with the full support of the Ministry of Education. Nominations for Platinum Awards 2017 opened under 20 categories.[7] The promotional campaign commenced at Thurstan College, Colombo on 30 January 2017. The campaign was held in every district in the island until the 28 February 2017.[8] The Awards night was held on 31 March 2017 at Sirasa Stein Studios, Ratmalana. Five times world champion in Lamborghini motor racing, Dilantha Malagamuwa won the Most Popular Sports Person of The Year Award.[9]
Sports First Platinum awards 2016, "Most Popular Player of the year" awarded to Dilantha Malagamuwa by sports minister of Sri Lanka Dayasiri Jayasekara
The press conference of the award ceremony was held on 14 January 2019 at Sports Ministry Race Course.[10] The third Platinum Awards night was held on 29 March 2019 at Sirasa Stein Studios, Ratmalana. 20 awards have been awarded to the excellence in sports across the country and across the world.[11] World Bodybuilding Champion, Lucion Pushparaj won the Most Popular Sports Person of The Year Award.[12]
