Time to put house in order

Sri Lanka must soon iron out its administrative problems in athletics and swimming, two of the most important Olympic sports here. Especially with the 10th South Asian Games in Sri Lanka nearing up, time is running out for the host nation to put the house in order.

Athletics and swimming are two important disciplines, at which Sri Lanka excelled as the hosts of the Vth South Asian Games way back in 1991. Our athletes bagged 15 gold medals while swimmers accounted for 12 to make it a total of 27 gold, out of the record 44 gold medals won by Sri Lanka.

Once again, Sri Lanka would rely on athletes and swimmers to bring glory to the nation when the eight-nation Games returns to Colombo next April. Unfortunately, the two governing bodies of these sports are in crisis situation.

The Athletic Association of Sri Lanka (AASL) is a ship without a captain after its President, Minister Janaka Bandara Tennekoon and 'so-called' CEO, Karunaratne Samarasinghe deserted, just hours ahead of an anticipated no confidence motion following a suspicious air ticket deal, worth nearly Rs. three million for the Sri Lanka team for the recent Asian Championships in Korea.

Meanwhile, the Sri Lanka Aquatic Sports Union (SLASU) has become a child under a foster parent after the Sports Minister, Jeewan Kumaratunga dissolved the elected governing body and appointed an interim committee.

True that there were many reasons for Minister Kumaranatunga to sack the SLASU ex-co as they failed to appoint a new president for several months after the resignation of Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda.

On principle, we do not approve appointments of interim committees in place of an elected national sports association. In recent times, interim councils have become part and parcel of Sri Lanka sports, especially with cricket. True that the Sports Minister is empowered to do so by the Sports Law, if he desires so.

When the things are going out of control and an ex-co of a national sports association (NSA) takes law into their hands and mismanage, the Sports Minister has all the right to dissolve such controlling body and appoint interim councils with persons of his choice.

Unfortunately, there is no time frame given in the Sports Law and the Sports Minister could keep interim councils of his choice for any duration. That is a bad situation as the democratic rights of member clubs and associations of a NSA would be deprived.

There was close call for athletics as well as there were plans to appoint an interim council for athletics. But with the orders coming to have a special general meeting of the AASL to appoint a replacement for Minister Tennekoon, such an unfortunate situation did not arise.

In contrast, there was an internal split in the SLASU ex-co as some members openly complained of several irregularities. The newly appointed Interim Committee of the SLASU has immediately got into action and the long awaited Sri Lanka national championship will be conducted this weekend. It's a pity that our swimming officials cannot unite and work for a common goal at a time Sri Lanka need their services the most.

On the other hand, we must make use of the knowledge and experience of some of our past swimmers of the calibre of Barcelona Olympian Jullian Bolling who bagged a record five gold medals at the Vth South Asian Games.

Whatever the reasons are, it is an unfortunate situation for our athletics and swimming as these two governing bodies should have a strong administrative set up to make plans for the forthcoming South Asian Games. But for the misfortune of Sri Lanka sports, both these NSAs are in crisis situations.

Going back to the raw air ticket deal of the AASL, Minister Tennekoon finally decided to tender his resignation while his Ministerial appointee to a newly created post of CEO Samarasinghe went missing from the Torrington office. Many described their resignations as a blessing in disguise, ending a black era in our athletes.

But the big question is who should be held responsible for the ticket deal, in which a few officials are alleged to have robbed nearly half a million rupees. Those were valuable public funds pumped in by the Sports Ministry, as not a single penny came to AASL coffers by the way of sponsorships in the Tennekoon era.

We must immediately overcome all these administrative blunders and find an honest team of officials to man both these NSAs. There should be a honest and dedicated team of officials to show our sportsmen and women the right way and groom them for the SA Games.

Still, there are a couple of corrupt officials in the AASL. Our sports would be free and would head in the right direction only the day we get rid of these officials who live on sports.