|
|
 |
 |
| Sunday, 20 June 2004 |
 |
|
 |
Sports |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
|
Straight talk by Lal Gunasekera Well done Mr. Minister, keep it up! The Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs, Jeevan Kumaratunga has decided at long last to crack the whip on corrupt sports bodies , just two months into his term of office, and the first to come under the microscope is the Amateur Athletic Association of Sri Lanka (AAASL), whose activities on allegations of administrative and financial mismanagement is being probed. The inquiry committee is headed by a former President of a racquet sport, Elmo Perera, and also includes DIG Thangavelu (a former President of the ABA) and Pathmasiri, well=known and respected personalities, who know the "ins and outs" of sports bodies. There are many such bodies that should be probed. Their report is to be submitted soon to Minister Kumaratunga, and I sincerely hope that this report once handed over, will not gather dust like some other reports, but action taken, if necessary, if the allegations are proved beyond reasonable doubt. On the topic of inquiry reports, I wonder what has happened to the disciplinary inquiries into Sri Lanka's Olympic Games medallist Susanthika Jayasinghe and Sugath Tillekaratne to have been conducted by the AAA and the National Olympic Committee (NOC)? Their indiscipline stems from the South Asian Federation (SAF) games in Pakistan earlier this year, and it seems that these reports are a well guarded secret. What has become of these two inquiries and what action is to be taken if at all? Minister Kumaratunga has been quoted saying that this type of inquiry (like in the case of the AAA) is not meant to attack any individuals or take political revenge, but to probe corruption and other various allegations made against sports bodies, and to clean up those organisations and put the country's sports administration on the correct path. Well done Mr. Minister! it is high time that those bodies against whom numerous allegations have been made by the media and sports personalities of repute and knowledged, are probed and cleared of unscrupulous officials, who think they "are it" and even going to the extent of threatening lawsuits against persons who disclose such bodies/officials. Another suggestion to Minister Kumaratunga is regarding our sportsmen and sportswomen decamping when they are with our national teams on tour in developed countries. Only quite recently, a martial arts competitor decamped in South Korea, and there have been instances in the past where they have done the same in Canada, USA, England and Japan. Signing bonds before teams leave on tour seems to be a futile exercise with these competitors bringing disgrace to the country. The Minister and his officials must try to work out ways and means to put an end to this type of illegal migration made solely for economic reasons. How the Minister goes about it, or the authorities concerned to put an end to it by planning some ways is left to be seen, but I am sure that there are ways to do it successfully. The Minister must also be advised by his advisors in appointing members into selection committees. A case in point is the recent appointment of seven persons for Cricket when the previous committee comprised only four. Sri Lanka Cricket recommended five, but Minister Kumaratunga, deleted one from the SLC list of nominees and brought in three others. Of the present seven-member selection committee, how many have played the game at the highest level and are they persons of integrity to command respect from the cricketers? As former Sri Lanka captain Arjuna Ranatunga, now a Deputy Minister in the UPFA government commented, "pick four more and have a team of selectors". These selection committees appointed by the Minister to sports bodies must act independently from such bodies. I understand that high-ups in a certain body attend selection committee meetings and try to influence these selectors. This must end and the Minister has a right to put a stop to this type of affairs. It is the bounden duty of the Ministry officials who tender "advice" to the Minister to go through the pros and cons before making their recommendations and leave it to the Minister to take the final decision. The cricket selectors now comprise Asantha de Mel as Chairman, Lalith Kaluperuma, Pramodhya Wickremasinghe, Ranjith Madurusinghe, Don Anurasiri, K.M. Nelson and Shabir Asgerally. One task of these selectors is to watch the players in action before they pick a side. But it was surprising to note a comment made by a member of the selection panel who picked the side to tour Australia recently, including a fast bowler who this selector had said that he had "heard" that the bowler was good. Come, come what a disgraceful comment to make, and it just goes to prove one point-Do selectors watch matches and do they go on hearsay when picking players? In certain sports, some teams cannot hold their own even against their counterparts in the South Asian region, but make tours regularly to Asia and Europe. First let these competitors in various sports do well regionally before playing against the best in other countries. This will do a lot of good, not only for that particular sport, but also the competitors themselves, who are finally left dejected. Some teams go on tour and return empty handed. The famous comment made on arrival is always the same-"We gained a lot of experience". Whom are they trying to fool? The Minister must put his foot down and not allow any Dick, Tom and Harry to represent the country overseas. No sound It was rather surprising to note of the "break down" of the sound system at a leading club to announce its programme for a historic occasion. One wag was heard to comment that over 125 years back there was no sound system, but even 125 years later, it does not seem to be in operation. |
|
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security Produced by Lake House |
