Representatives from national sports associations have condemned National Olympic Committee Chairman Hemasiri Fernando for arbitrarily writing to the International Olympic Committee (IOC)
They were citing that the Sports Law and the subsequent regulations flout the autonomy of the sports bodies in the country. A media release issued by the Ministry of Sports states that these sentiments were expressed at a meeting chaired by Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage on Wednesday to educate sports associations on the demands made by the IOC with regard to the country’s Sports Law and the regulations introduced thereafter.
On a complaint by the NOC chief, Fernando citing that the Sports Law was intrusive and greatly interfered with the autonomy of independent sports bodies, IOC summoned the Sports Ministry officials together with NOC officials to draw up a roadmap to sort out anomalies that deemed to be against the Olympic charter.
Sri Lanka agreed to all changes proposed with IOC threatening a possible ban if the country failed to comply with the request within a specified time period.
The minister said he was taking all measurers required to meet the demands of the IOC in order to keep Sri Lanka’s Olympic status intact.
“If you look at this issue, it was prompted by a power-hungry individual, not because he has a genuine interest in sports. Even then we took a step back and agreed to respect the demand of the IOC in order to preserve our Olympic status,” Aluthgamage said.
“When I met the heads of these associations they were very clear that the NOC chief had acted in an arbitrary manner without even consulting the executive committee members,” the minister said.
The statement issued by the Sports Ministry also quoted former NOC secretary HU Silva, volleyball chief MP Dilan Perera, NOC vice president Dian Gomes, rugby chief Asanga Seneviratne, cricket secretary Nishantha Ranatunga, horse racing chief Suranjith Premadasa and badminton chief Suraj Dandeniya, all voicing their strong opposition to the NOC chief for his action.
The NOC chief issuing a media statement on November 26 said it was his duty as the head of the country’s premier sports body to inform the parent body of the development here.
“After realizing that our efforts to sort out the issues pertaining to the regulations implemented with the ministry of sports bore no fruits, it was my duty to inform the IOC of the intrusive regulations. Besides it amuses me that some people who had not been present for a single Executive Committee meeting questions the importance of taking the Ex-Co approval,” Fernando wrote in his lengthy media release.
He also charged that the regulations were so intrusive that it was compulsory for most national associations to kneel in front of the sports minister for their existence.
“This is the reason for members of national sports associations to remain silent at meetings called by the minister, agreeing with all decisions even against their conscience,” Fernando said.
