Celebrating boxing success

All Sri Lankans to a man without doubt would raise a toast to Manju Wanniarachchi who did the country proud by winning for it our solitary gold medal at the 19th Commonwealth Games. More so because it was the first boxing gold won by the country in 72 years and the first ever medal won for the sport in half a century. It was certainly a great achievement for an event such as the Commonwealth Games which is virtually a mini Olympics. Fittingly the first to congratulate Wanniarachchi was President Mahinda Rajapaksa who phoned the boxer moments after he achieved the feat.

Wanniarachchi's achievement was all the more refreshing in the face of the barren run by our much fancied track and field and swimming competitors which should prompt our sports authorities to shift their focus and attitudes away from their present thinking. Today many are the sports and sportsmen who are being mollycoddled by the State as well as private sector sponsors but when it comes to an international athletics event they fail to deliver the goods. They should awaken to the fact that it is those sporting disciplines that are currently receiving step-motherly treatment that are increasingly bringing fame and glory to Sri Lanka at least in the field of athletics. Here too the other two medals won by the country was for weightlifting, a discipline that is being relegated to the background in the current equation.

It is no secret that even sponsors come forward to lend their patronage only to the so called fashionable sports that brings them more milage. It is only a few sponsors who support sports such as Volleyball although this is far from the colossal sums dumped into other sports. True, sponsors expect the best milage for their products and cannot be blamed for going for those sporting disciplines that are popular with the public and draw spectators.

It is here that the State should intervene and try to do its utmost to promote sports that are currently not in the limelight. There are enough Government Ministers who could secure sponsorships for sports such as boxing and weightlifting by influencing prospective sponsors or through institutions under their own Ministries. In the alternative a special fund could be created to help these sports and sportsmen by providing the latter with employment security. For it is no secret that the sports mentioned above by their vary nature do not bringing in the funds and the sportsmen too are treated as poor relations compared to our cricketers who are in the super rich bracket. Those engaged in such sports are also not in great demand for private sector jobs and even if employed in the State sector do not receive due recognition. Hence the need for a special arrangement to uplift these sports and cater to the needs of the sportsmen.

In this context private sponsors too should be urged to contribute more to give a shot in the arm to such sports. We say this because today exponents of these sports are brought to the spotlight only after they achieve prominence after some spectacular feat. And this too is not for any altruistic reasons but for sheer commercial exploitation. One can be absolutely certain that a host of commercial enterprises will be falling over themselves to ride on the victory bandwagon with Manju Wanniarachchi no sooner he makes his victorious arrival in the country.

All this is good provided this commercial sponsorship for these less attractive sports continues on a permanent level. Today only certain sports hog the sponsorship limelight with mega bucks poured into such sports chiefly due to their glamour and allure. It is time that the authorities take more meaningful steps to promote sporting disciplines that have hitherto been relegated to the background and treat their exponents in the same way by extending the same patronage given to those other sports now in the frontline. It is such attitudes that would enable us to produce more and more Wanniarachchi is from the rural backwaters who will keep the Lankan flag flying in the international sporting arena.

Hopefully those charged with promoting sports would nurture Manju Wanniarachchi to his dream of achieving the Olympic Gold in 2012 by providing him with the necessary assistance and wherewithal from this point onwards and lend due patronage to those other sports that are lying in hibernation but has the potential to take the country to the top.