Asian Body Building C'ships in Sri Lanka next year

By Lal Gunesekera

BODY BUILDING: Over 350 musclemen from 30 countries in the region will vie for honours at the Asian Championships of the Asian Body Building Federation (ABBF) conducted by the Interim Committee of the Sri Lanka Body Building and Fitness Federation (SLBBFF) in August next year (2008) at either the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium or Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH).

The Chairman of the SLBBFF's Interim Committee, Jeffrey Schucroft, told the Sunday Observer that Minister of Sports, Gamini Lokuge, has received the blessings of President Mahinda Rajapaksa to stage this event in Colombo.

"President Rajapaksa will be writing to the President of the International Body Building Federation (IBBF), Raphael Santago of Spain as well as the President of the ABBF, Osama Ahmed Al-Shahar, regarding this matter within the next couple of weeks. The government of Sri Lanka has assured us their fullest support to make this event a grand success and security for every participant (official and competitor) has also been assured" said Schucroft.

He further said that a sum of Rs. 20 million is needed to stage this event in Colombo and that he is in the process of negotiating with various establishments to raise the necessary funds. He was also confident that the Ministry of Sports will also contribute generously.

Schucroft also said that the venue for the Asian Championships was "given" to Hong Kong, but when Schucroft had met officials of both the IBBF and ABBF in Shanghai, China recently, he got to know that he now heads the SLBBFF, Sri Lanka and they were told to stage the event.

Two members replaced

The Asian Championships was staged in Sri Lanka in 1985 with only musclemen from 15 countries taking part when Schucroft was at the helm of affairs of the SLBBFF.

Among the countries that will be vying for honours in Colombo will be from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Mongolia, Afghanistan, Kazakhastan, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Iran, Iraq, Bahrain, Kuwait, Turkey, Nepal, Brunei and Macau.

The Minister of Sports, Gamini Lokuge, has appointed the Ministry's Additional Secretary, P. N. B. Herath, and Jayasekera, also from the same Ministry to the Interim Committee of the SLBBFF.

They replaced Chandana Aluthge and Kapila Kumara both former Presidents of the SLBBFF who were appointed as members of the Interim Committee headed by Jeffrey Schucroft in only August by Minister Lokuge.

They were both involved in a verbal battle with each other at the inaugural media briefing of the Interim Committee early last month and Minister Lokuge decided to remove them.

The other members of the Interim Committee are - B. M. D. T. Basnayake (Secretary) and Chandrasena Kodituwakku (Treasurer).

Lee in Colombo

Meanwhile, Augustine Lee from Singapore, who is a former Mr. Universe, who won the Masters (Over-55) Light Heavy class at the Asian Championships in Shanghai, China in August, is in Sri Lanka at the moment as a guest of Jeffrey Schucroft. He arrived in the island last Thursday (October 11).