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Straight Talk by Lal Gunasekera

Jeevan Kumaratunga has been re-appointed as the Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, but not of Cabinet rank. It looks as if Minister Kumaratunga, who took the unilateral decision to amend the Sports Law No. 25 of 1973, will not cancel this controversial regulation, despite numerous appeals for him to do so.

The Presidential election is over. The people have given their verdict. The UPFA candidate Mahinda Rajapakse won. Now, President Rajapakse must keep his pledges, and one request is even for him to advice Minister Kumaratunga to cancel the amended Sports Law No. 25 or cancel it himself.

Minister Kumaratunga was misled by his own Ministry Secretary, S. Ranugge, into amending this Sports Law which benefits only two officials of the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Sri Lanka - Hemasiri Fernando (President) and Cmdr (rtd) H. U. Silva (Secretary), which helped them to continue in office for an unprecedented third four-year term.

The annual general meeting of the NOC was held just before the Presidential election (November 14 to be exact). For the first time in its history, Athletics, Swimming and Volleyball are not represented in the Executive Committee of the NOC. Minister Kumaratunga too, made an order at 4.00 p.m. on the day of the annual general meeting to permit the Interim Committees too be allowed for the AGM, but only the Cycling authorities were present.

It is a well-known fact that President Rajapakse when he was the Prime Minister questioned Minister Kumaratunga regarding this amendment. Even Deputy Minister of Tourism, Arjuna Ranatunga, and a JVP member were against it and spoke against it, but Minister Kumaratunga was adamant and went ahead in gazetting this particular regulation, much to the dismay of honest individuals in various other sports controlling bodies.

President Rajapakse himself headed the Sri Lanka Athletic Association (SLAA) a few years back, and knows what this amendment means. He must cancel this amendment and not allow people like Hemasiri Fernando and Cmdr H. U. Silva to act in dictatorial fashion. They are well-known chameleons, who love to cling to power and curry favours with politicians from any party.

The Presidential Investigation Unit (PIU) too are investigating various allegations made to them against the NOC, including financial mismanagement. They (the PIU) are also investigating allegations made against certain top notchers of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports too.

I sincerely hope that the PIU will treat this matter seriously and continue with their investigations and complete it soon. Whether their recommendations will be implemented is another question. What happened to the recommendations made several months ago by the PIU against certain officials of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, including its Director-General, Milton Amarasinghe, and Deputy Director of Sports, Derwin Perera? No action was taken by the Ministry Secretary, Ranugge, to implement them. Why? Ranugge even had the audacity to approach former President Chandrika Kumaratunga herself and wanted the charges withdrawn. He was not successful.

Let us wait and see what President Rajapakse does. He must clean up the mess now prevailing in certain controlling bodies and even give instructions for the annual general meetings be held in the controlling bodies where there are Interim Committees.

BMW for NOC!

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is to present the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Sri Lanka with a brand new BMW Mini Van worth US Dollars 60,000 at a ceremony to take place at the Galle Face Hotel on Tuesday (November 29) evening.

I wonder whether it will be used by the NOC staff or NOC's top notchers?

Plans go haywire

Plans of certain gymnasts to decamp in Australia during the World Championships in Melbourne (November 21 to 27) went haywire with only two girls been financed together with her coach for the trip. A mother too accompanied one of the gymnasts.

Earlier, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, approved a team of four girls, six men and nine officials (yes, nine officials), but the Australian High Commission in Colombo, issued visas to only two girls and a coach.

Mahela's wedding present

Mahela Jayawardene, the Sri Lanka cricketer, received a shock of a "wedding present" when the selectors decided to sideline him once again from the post of vice-captain. They, instead appointed Chaminda Vaas. Jayawardene was earlier sidelined from this role under Sanath Jayasuriya's captaincy about six years back.

The removal of Jayawardene and the appointment of Vaas has created disharmony in the Sri Lanka camp. The team was united, but now I understand that internal squabbles were visible during the final One-Day International with India at Baroda.

Wasn't it a poor "wedding present" from the selectors and Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC)? The national cricketers were hardly communicating with the new vice-captain and wonder what will happen to the team unity now?

Disastrous tour

Sri Lanka had a disastrous tour of India where they lost the seven One-Day International series 1-6 and with just 18 months to go for the World Cup to be staged in the West Indies, SLC and the selectors, must take some bold decisions now. They must not be afraid.

The Sri Lankans were thrashed and some players like Sanath Jayasuriya and Nuwan Soysa were not physically fit, but included in the side. Russel Arnold and Tillekeratne Dilshan managed to get some runs towards the latter stages. Skipper Marvan Atapattu himself was struggling for form and batted lower down the order later. Not only Atapattu, but the entire team would have been demoralised by this act.

Kumar Sangakkara was the only batsman who was in good nick. He seems to be the only batsman in form and is certain to improve further as the season progresses. Mahela Jayawardene too did well with the bat.

Among the bowlers, Chaminda Vaas, Dilhara Fernando and Nuwan Soysa were not consistent. Farveez Maharoof was hit all over the place by the Indians. Muttiah Muralitharan was the best, but he too was not fully fit - laying off last two Internationals. Upul Chandana struggled and both Arnold and Dilshan were not effective.

What happened? What went wrong? Why did they open with Thilan Samaraweera at Baroda? Samaraweera figured in only two games out of the seven when he is the man for a crisis situation. Sure, you cannot win all the time, but the manner in which they lost was very surprising.

I think it's time for Sri Lanka to start experimenting with the "fringe" players.

There were three 'A' sides that toured Sri Lanka recently (West Indies, South Africa and New Zealand).

They included six to seven Test players in their respective teams. Why not give the opportunity for some of our 'A' team players to show their mettle in the senior side?

The Sri Lankans left again to India on Wednesday for a three Test Series.

Another birthday boy

November 7, was a happy day not only for actor-Minister Jeevan Kumaratunga, but also for the Chairman of the Interim Committee of SLC, Jayantha Dharmadasa. They both celebrated their birthdays on the same day.

Dharmadasa of Nawaloka fame and a former Chairman of the Film Corporation who was trying to pushase a majority of shares of the Galadari Hotel, had his birthday bash at the five-star Galadari itself in grand style with wine, champagne and all kinds of liquor flowing freely followed by dinner.

Guess who was present, apart from the socialites to see Dharmadasa blowing the candles on his birthday cake? Yes, it was non-other than Minister Kumaratunga.

Why AGSEP?

When there is a Schools Table Tennis Association, why on earth does the Table Tennis Association of Sri Lanka (TTASL) find it necessary for the Asian German Sports Exchange Program (AGSEP) to organise the 59th Junior National Championships scheduled for next month (December)? The Junior Nationals are run in five age groups (Under 9, 11, 13, 15 and 17) and should not the schools authorities conduct it?

Also, why does the TTASL, want the entries and entry fees to be sent to one Lasantha de Silva, who is designated the Chief Representative of the AGSEP to an address in Rukmale, Pannipitiya? This address also happens to be that of the Secretary of the TTASL, Chandana Perera. Isn't this very strange?

Meanwhile, the South Asian Games is to be staged in Sri Lanka in April next year (2006), and the TTASL, has increased the men's pool to eight, and I understand that this is to accommodate the two sons of a high TTASL official. the women's pool stands at nine. Earlier, the two national pools (men and women) used to consist of five paddlers each. I also understand that two trials were held, but later cancelled. Why? Now, three more trials are to be held.

Protests too have been lodged with the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and Education Department on these issues, and the question asked is why the Schools Association should not conduct the Junior Nationals which involves school children.

Queries galore

The Auditor-General's Department has not only queried the IAAF grant given to the Sri Lanka Athletic Association (SLAA) and the manner in which it was utilised, but also questions many other transactions of the SLAA in a II-page audit query, raising 12 issues in a report signed by W. G. N. Menike and sent to SLAA to be replied within 14 days. Among the issues raised is the failure of the SLAA Treasurer to maintain and update its accounts regularly and a deficit of over Rs. 5 lakhs and the release of more than Rs. 2 1/2 million by the Treasurer during September-October without any proper accounting procedures. The air ticket deal of the Sri Lanka contingent to the Asian Championships in South Korea too has been questioned.

The ticket episode includes an air ticket for a delegate for Rs. 61,200 and another at an extra cost, Rs. 29,600 travel on Business Class.

Also questioned is the issue of ten cheques for Rs. 4,015,875 issued to a Vice-President and a sum of Rs. 250,000 given to an individual to conduct a training camp in Vavuniya by a German coach.

Austin on holiday

Remember Austin Daniel, the veteran rugby correspondent of the then Times Group? Well, he is on vacation in his motherland from Canada where he lives with his wife, Celia, daughter Vanessa and her family.

Daniel who left the shores of Sri Lanka many decades ago, was first in Hong Kong before he decided to settle down in Canada with his family. He also contributes regularly to various IRB publications too.

He could be reached on phone number 2856891.

Water hyacinth

Last Saturday's Regatta by the Colombo Rowing Club (CRC) on the waters of the Beira Lake had to be postponed as water hyacinth had taken over the part of the lake used for rowing.

This plant grows very fast. Just before the Royal-Thomian Regatta, a rowing enthusiast had cleared the water hyacinth from the vicinity privately.

Isn't it the duty of the CRC together with the ARASL to have these water hyacinth plants cleared for the rowers?

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