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| Sunday, 16 May 2004 |
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Basketball Federation replies... A reply by Sri Lanka Basketball Federation to article "Basketball officials keen only on going abroad" that appeared on page 17 last Sunday... 1) We would like to draw your kind attention to the news item under caption "Straight Talks" by Mr. Lal Gunesekera, which appeared on page 17 of the Sunday Observer of 09th May 2004. This news item was discussed at length at an emergency meeting of the Office-bearers of SLBF summoned for this purpose on Monday the 10th May 2004. The members unanimously decided to address you as the Editor in Chief and to appraise you of the correct position as the subject matter (allegations) published therein are false, malicious and misleading. It is our belief that the source of Mr. Gunesekera's had misinformed and mislead him. 2) We therefore, forward herewith the correct position so that you may understand the true picture and provide us the same publicity in order to allay the fears of our fans since the article referred to could tarnish the image of the game of Basketball and the good name of the Office-bearers of SLBF who have dedicated themselves to promote the standard of the game. We do not wish to review the history of the game of Basketball and those honourable members who were associated with, since the writer has dealt with it at length on one half of the page of this article. What we wish to take up are the following in accuracies: a) The AGM held on 28th March 2004. This AGM was attended by 34 delegates, which is well above the numbers required for the quorum and not the number as reflected. In order to establish this fact, we attach hereto a copy of the Attendance Sheet for your kind perusal. b) The allegation that the AGM was unconstitutional as the Ex-Co meeting summoned for the ratification of nominations was not sent on an SLBF letterhead, without an agenda and the nominations were received at an unauthorized address are totally false and misleading. The notice of the Ex-Co meeting summoned for the ratification of nominations was typed on an SLBF letterhead with the agenda clearly typed. To prove our point we attach hereto a photocopy of the notice. You will observe that the copy of this notice is also copied to the Secretary of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and the Director General of Sports, Department of Sports Development, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. Hence the news item is palpably false. c) With regard to the allegation that the nominations were received at an unauthorized address, we are at a loss to understand what this unauthorized address is, since this had been made available not only to the Ex-Co members but even to the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and the International Sports Bodies such as FIBA and FIBA ASIA. Correspondence from the Ministry has always sent to this address. d) The news report that the members wanted Mr. Gamini Netticumara to go ahead with the meeting despite being unconstitutional, we consider is malicious against Mr. Gamini Netticumara and the Sports Ministry representative who was present right throughout the conduct of the meeting. In fact at the conclusion of the AGM the Ministry representative commented that this AGM was very well conducted. Here again we are saddened that the writer's source has misled him. e) The statement attributed to the audited accounts as referred to in the news item is misleading and incorrect. The auditor was appointed by the Auditor General's office on the basis that the future auditing of sports bodies shall be by those auditors appointed by the Auditor General. In this instance we complied with the direction of the Auditor General. The Auditor General too informed the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports of this. f). We would also like to clarify the report, which states that Mr. Gamini Netticumara did not send his nomination to re contest for the post of President as he did not want to be a "Part and Parcel" of these malpractices of SLBF. This is totally incorrect since, at the AGM Mr. Gamini Netticumara in his address to the members stated that he accepted the post of Senior Vice President and he will continue to give his support to the Federation. g). The news item referred to the type of unconstitutional AGMs of SLBF taking place from the mid 1990s. We wish to reiterate that from 1990 to date every AGM was conducted according to our constitution in the presence of the representatives of Ministry of Youth affairs and Sports and not a single AGM was reported to be unconstitutional by the Ministry representatives and every such committee functioned its entire period. During these period eminent persons such as Vice Admiral Daya Sandagiri Commander of the Navy, Mr. Sarath Ekanayake former Chief Minister - Central Province, Mr. IT Canagaratnam DIG Police, Major General UBL Fernando of the Army, and Captain Mahesh Gunesekera of the Navy were the Presidents of SLBF. Are we to take it that the source of the writer is challenging the professional competence of these officers who held the office after mid 1990? It is also pertinent to mention here that throughout this period there were no contests for the post of the President. We therefore, observe that the information provided to the writer has been totally false, incorrect and malicious and thereby causing a severe damage to the good name of the SLBF. h) National Championships. We would like to enlighten both the writer and his source of information that the SLBF Nationals - 2002 was played in Jaffna immediately after the ceasefire even before the A-9 road was opened with the kind assistance of the Peace secretariat and Sri Lanka Navy who transported the players and officials, numbering over sixty to Jaffna. A successful championship was conducted for the first time in the Jaffna District where both men/women teams from the other provinces participated at the semi-finals and finals. The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports provided the required financial assistance for the successful conduct of this tournament. As regards to the Senior Nationals - 2003, this was to be played in March 2004 and had to be postpone due to the General Election - 2004. It is to be played in a few weeks. 3) In conclusion we would like to note that it's a strange coincidence that every time a new Government is formed and a new Minister is appointed some untruthful and unworthy elements for reasons best known to them make use of the media to poison the minds of the Hon. Minister and our supporters. We strongly feel that the source of the writer has misled him and provided him with false and incorrect information. Note by Writer... (2) a - the quorum for the AGM is 24, but when the attendance register was checked, to confirm how many were eligible to vote, only 22 had paid their subscriptions. Some members when contacted said that they were present and confirmed that there was no quorum. (b) Does not arise as there was no quorum, and the SLBF letterhead has the names of the office-bearers (I am in possession of one to prove my point) with the correspondence address given as 11/7 Dharmapala Mawatha, Baddagana, Pita Kotte, which is the residence of the Secretary. (c) Does not arise as the position regarding letterhead is stated in (b). (e) The SLBF admits "that the future auditing shall be by those appointed by the Auditor General". The General Committee of the SLBF has not appointed an Auditor as Constitution demands in Rule 9-e. (g) Nowhere in the article do I challenge the professional competence of the SLBF Presidents who held office after mid 1990s. (h) If the SLBF Nationals was held in Jaffna immediately after the ceasefire why was only over 60 players transported which included officials. There are 24 member associations (17 districts, 3 defence services, Police, Mercantile, Schools and University) and with 15 players having to be registered per team it exceeds 60 players and officials. How many teams took part is now the question, and it was more of a "Peace Tournament" than the 2002 Nationals. It is strange that the SLBF does not touch on certain other topics that I have mentioned like how many foreign sides have played in Sri Lanka since the mid 1980's number of tours undertaken by the SLBF, non appointment of a national coach, and even the evidence of a former SLBF President, Rear Admiral Daya Sandagiri at an inquiry conducted by Sports Ministry in 2000. There is also the question of an Assistant treasurer being elected when there is no such provision in the SLBF constitution (Rule 8). It is the duty of the media to highlight the "good and the bad" of any person or sports body in the interest of that particular sport. |
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