National Sports Policy required for promotion and development of sports - NOC Chief

by Leslie Fernando

"Amidst different obstacles, the 10th South Asian Games were conducted and completed in a successful manner and it is one of the great victories achieved by Sri Lanka", said Hemasiri Fernando, President of the National Olympic Committee.

He also admitted that the SAG extravaganza had its quota of glorious moments, controversies and shortcomings.

NOC chief Fernando made these comments on Tuesday at the Oak Room, Cinnamon Grand Hotel, When Stone 'N' String (Pvt) Ltd held the felicitation ceremony to award medals to the Sri Lankan contingent who brought honour to the country.

The NOC chief congratulated all the medallists of the Games and highly commended Stone "N" String (Pvt) Ltd founder Mohideen Saheed who undertook to be the exclusive licence holder for the 10th South Asian Games. The proven track record, network and global distribution channels were some of the reasons the National Olympic Committee (NOC) awarded the Stone "N" String the licence," added Fernando.

Fernando said that he was of the view for the promotion and development of Sri Lanka sports the time is ripe for a National Sports Policy to be drafted. Shortly I will meet the Sports Ministry officials to discuss and implement this programme."

As Sri Lankans we should not directly aim in winning medals at the Olympics but go step by step win medals at the South Asian Games, then win medals at the Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and then work ourselves to finally win medals at the Olympic," said Fernando.

Fernando added that glorious moments are part and parcel of any sports show. But to organise and conduct the games was a huge task.

"When we took over from 2004 Pakistan, the 10th SAG was postponed twice due to tsunami and various other reasons. But due to numerous officials who executed a good job, enabled the games to be organised and completed in a fine manner.

It should also be said that the State provided 250 million rupees and the rest of the monies came from several sponsors." We spent only 1,000 million rupees to successfully conduct the Games compared to Pakistan who spent 3,500 million rupees to hold the 9th edition of the SAF Games in 2004. The important factor is we spent less money and held the mega event in a magnificent manner," added Hemasiri Fernando.

Fernando in his brief address recalled the memorable moments of the ten-day event which he described as a major contribution in promoting the international sports movements, that by itself knew no boundaries and was bound by the motto of the games - peace, perseverance and progress.

He also expressed his gratitude to President, Mahinda Rajapaksa, Sports Minister Jeevan Kumaratunga and his Ministry officials an all those who rallied round him for their unflinching guidance and cooperation in making the games a success.