Forget petty differences to improve sports - President

Bernard Perera

IMPROVE SPORTS: A ceremony was held yesterday at Temple Trees under the patronage of the President Mahinda Rajapaksa to felicitate the medal winners at the 10th South Asian Games in Colombo and 15th Asian Games in Doha Qatar.

President Rajapaksa thanked all medal winners who brought glory to the mother land by winning medals at these two major sporting events. He said every one have accept the fact that the standard of our sports have reached a very low level.

Though we won many medals at the SA Games that standard was not sufficient to compete at Asian level. We have to rectify this immediately if we are to bring medals to our country. This can only be achieved through proper selections. The officials should take great care when selecting sportsmen and women for training for the future.

"The selectors should never take in to account from which part of the country they come from, to what race they belong to and the status they hold in the society. They should only consider the ability of the poolists who are capable of moving towards the future goals to bring in medals for the country at international level.

President specifically noted that the selectors should never use favouritism when selections are made. They must try to find the best for the future if we are to succeed. This could be achieved only through proper selections" said the President.

"This system was not done properly and we have suffered immensely. All coaches, Trainers, Officials and the Ministry should join hands to come out of this situation. The President said "I believe that things need a lot of changes, if we are to improve the standard of sports. As such I have decided to form a Special Task Force to take charge of the youngsters to prepare them for the future.

This I feel has become a must according the prevailing situation" he said. He also added that "officials spend huge sums of money when the elections are nearing in a bid to get elected to office. Why spend money to get elected. If these funds are used on sportsmen and women I think we could have achieved better performances. These achievements could have brought them to office convincingly" said the President.

He requested all Provincial Councils Sports Ministries to think of the grave situation seriously and to take necessary steps for remedial action with a view to eliminate further downfall in the standards.

The President continuing thanked the winners at the two events and said that "you cannot expect these set of sportsmen and women to win medals all the time. They have done their best towards their country. We are proud of them. I request all you sportsmen and women to do whatever possible to lift the level of sports.

We have to have a new set of youngsters brought in to the arena, but this has to be an investment for the next South Asian Games, Asian Games or the Olympics. We must work towards a target to win medals at these mega events.

The medal winners here today have done lot of hard work in the past to wear these medals. Sports is a thing that can be used as a bridge to bring peace and harmony to the country. Sports can play a vital role in this important theme.

This ceremony was to be staged soon after the South Asian Games but due to various reasons that prevailed in the country the Sports Ministry had to postponed this and later had to wait till the Asian Games to be concluded.

President noted that this felicitation though held at Temple Trees is a one done to show the gratitude of the people of this country. The Sports Governing Bodies must take full responsibility for the downfall of the standard of sports and they must make new avenues to put things on the correct path said the President.