Sri Lanka must fall in line with Olympic Charter

It seems that Sri Lanka will have to urgently find solution to the ongoing dispute over the new Sports Ministry regulations which restricts term of top sports officials to a maximum period of four years.

Unless we do that and fall in line with regulations of other member countries in the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and its international member federations, Sri Lanka faces the danger of being expelled from competing at international sports events under the lion flag.

The world track and field governing body - the International Association of Athletic Federations (IAAF) has once again sounded a warning to the country's sports administration to lift the new restrictions which do not fall in line with the International Olympic Charter. As a result, the IAAF last week refused to recognize the newly-elected executive committee of the Athletic Association of Sri Lanka (AASL), headed by former Asian Games gold medallist Sugath Thillakaratne.

In an e-Mail to the AASL, the IAAF has advocated to conduct fresh election to the AASL in keeping with the constitution of the local body. Unless the recent AASL election of office bearers is declared null and void and call for fresh nominations to elect a fresh Ex-Co urgently, Sri Lanka faces the danger of being disqualified to field any of its athletes to compete at the IAAF World Championships to be worked off in Beijing, China from August 22 to 30.

Even if local athletes qualify to compete at the world athletic extravaganza or granted wild cards to compete in China, they could well be asked to compete under the IAAF flag and not under Sri Lanka's national flag.

The current AASL Constitution does not impose any restrictions on time periods a top official could hold office. However, the new Sports Regulations No. 1 of 2013 imposed by the Sports Ministry does not permit top officials to remain in their positions for more than four years, even if they are elected by the general membership.

As a result of the controversial regulations, incumbent AASL President Major General Palitha Fernando and Secretary General Prema Pinnawale could not seek re-election. They are well-respected figures in the international athletic circles but were forced to keep away from the AASL elections due to Sports Ministry regulations.

The duo, along with Sugath Thillakaratne held discussions with representatives of the world and Asian athletic bodies in Wuhan on the sideline of the Asian Athletic Championships in China.

It is not only the IAAF which has come hard on the controversial Sports Ministry regulations but also four other international sport federations - FINA (swimming), FIFA (soccer), IRB (rugby) and ICC (cricket). This is apart from the IOC which has strongly condemned the new Sports Ministry regulations.

All these world sports bodies have sounded warnings to Sri Lanka through their local national associations. They have urged Sri Lanka to uphold independence of national sports federations and to lift restrictions on terms of office bearers as far as they are elected by the respective general membership of those associations.

During the discussions with local athletic officials, the IAAF and Asian athletic officials have cited political interference in Sri Lanka athletics. What they have exactly meant in their reference as "political interference" is the Sports Ministry restrictions on term of office bearers and not that the Government had directly meddled with the internal affairs of the AASL.

The present scenario is really unfortunate and reflects badly on the new Government, which has got nothing to do with it. It was during the previous regime that these regulations were drafted on the recommendations of the then National Sports Council (NSC), headed by Dr. Maiya Gunasekera. But the implementation of the decisions taken during the tenure of former Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage was made by his successor and fellow old Royalist Navin Dissanayake.

As we have pointed out before, this is totally unwarranted problem that had become a headache to the new Sports Minister. Had he consulted Dr. Gunasekera along with the new NSC chairman Retired Senior DIG Nimal Lewke, the present unpleasant situation could have been avoided.

Most importantly, the National Olympic Committee (NOC) was kept in dark when these regulations were formulated. Had they consulted Hemesiri Fernando and his team at the NOC, they would have gladly advised on how it should be done without disputing the Olympic Charter.

Unfortunately, some officials of the national sports associations attempted to bypass the NOC and exert pressure through the former Sports Minister. As a result of new regulations which clashes with accepted norms and principles of the international sports bodies, a totally new and inexperienced set of officials have been elected to top seats of almost all national sports associations.

The Attorney General's Department declared that the new regulations gazetted in January 15, 2013 could be implemented 'prior and consequence'. Accordingly, top sports officials those who have held office for four years or more as President, Vice-President Secretary, Assistant Secretary, Treasurer and Assistant Treasurer became ineligible to seek re-election.

The IOC is quite right in opposing the new regulations which are nowhere in the Olympic Carter. As a sovereign nation, we have the right of implementing our own regulations but will have to be isolated from the international sports world.

But at the same time, we could not find fault with people who find fault with long-serving international sports officials such as world football boss Sepp Blatter who is in the centre of a global corruption scandal. But the stance of the international sports world is that every official has a right to contest and hold office, if they are elected. It is the vote of the general membership of a national or international sports body that should be held supreme and not a regulation implemented by a politician such as a Sports Minster.

It is not fair to restrict the term of office bearers to two terms and even second term is subjected to the approval of the Sports Minister. Even if the general membership unanimously votes for an official, he could still be kept out and the Sports Ministry could make him ineligible. This does not fall in line with the good governance policy of the present Government as well.

Unless the Sports Ministry and the National Olympic Committee sit together and sincerely discuss a solution, sports in Sri Lanka could head towards disaster. We earnestly hope that Dr. Gunasekera and Senior DIG Lewke would discuss the matter and give their opinion to Minister Dissanayake to make an appropriate decision that would iron out problems.