Debaters’ Council of Sri Lanka wins right to host WSDC in 2019

The Debaters’ Council of Sri Lanka, the focal body for English debating, won the right to host the World Schools Debating Championship (WSDC) in Colombo, Sri Lanka in 2019 at the recently concluded World Championship in Bali, Indonesia.

WSDC is the foremost global tournament for high school level debaters. The Championship, held since 1988, takes place annually in a different country. Past Championship hosts include Peru, Qatar, Korea, Greece, South Africa, Thailand, Singapore and Germany. The 2018 tournament will be held in Croatia.

Past patrons of the Championships include Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu and Tony Blair.

Sri Lanka secured 37 out of 50 votes in Bali, fending off stiff competition from Nigeria and South Korea, to claim the right to host the tournament in Colombo. More than 500 participants representing 50 – 60 nations are expected to arrive in Sri Lanka for WSDC 2019. This is the first time the tournament will be held in South Asia and would provide local students unprecedented levels of exposure to international standards of debating.

WSDC 2019 will be held from July 23, 2019 to August 2, 2019, according to a press release.