Uva Province Chief Minister Hareen Fernando has cited possible bad repercussions on the sport as the reason for not taking any legal action against the rejection of his name for the post of president of the Athletics Association of Sri Lanka. He has withdrawn his name from the run for the president of the AASL.
In a letter written to the Sports Minister, Fernando says that he wishes to withdraw his nomination without taking legal action against the rejection of his name by the Athletics Association of Sri Lanka due to the impact it (legal action) would have on the sport.
The letter, seen by The Island, states that it would have dealt a blow to athletics had he took legal action against the rejection of his name.
The letter further says that he took the decision to contest for the post of president after considering the requests made by a number of associations and leading athletes in the face of a drastic decline in standards of athletics.
In his letter to the Sports Minister, Fernando has also put forward a plan which he was intending to implement. The ten-point plan includes making a national plan to develop athletics, transparency in selections and maintaining Youth, Junior, National and Super National athletics pools.
Fernando’s nomination was rejected by the Athletics Association of Sri Lanka citing that he had taken the approval of the Sports Minister only after forwarding his nomination.
Fernando has also listed several points which he had identified as reasons for the present decline in athletics.
