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| Sunday, 5 September 2004 |
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Ministry official - a record 34 trips in 5 yrs. as Athens party ends Straight talk by Lal Gunesekera Vacation time is over. Now it's time to get back to the drawing board to see what went wrong. It was truely a fully paid vacation for our competitors in Athens, Greece at the Olympic Games. Even the officials enjoyed the vacation to the brim - some even going on private visits to other countries from Athens. One official from the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has enjoyed 34 overseas trips within the last five years. What luxury'. Of the eight competitors who went to Greece, none went past the first-round - be it athletes, swimmers or the lone shooter. Before their departure, those competitors and their coaches "talked big" saying they will get better timings, marks etc. But what happened in the end ? One athlete that did well and should be complemented is our marathon runner Anuruddha Indrajith Cooray. He finished 30th out of 102 runners and was fifth among the Asians, behind two Japanese and two South Korean runners. It was the best ever performance by a Lankan in the marathon at the Olympics. He has made some startling revelations. Many of the Sri Lankan contingent were not present at the race to encourage him. He was found fault because he did not attend a boat trip as his priority was his training schedule. His running gear did not indicate that he was from Sri Lanka and this prevented many Lankans on the route cheering him on. Also, he has said, officials were more interested in whining and dinning. The biggest disappointment was Susanthika Jayasinghe. She took the entire country for a ride. She qualified to run in the 100 metres before she left for Athens, and said that she was certain of qualifying to run in the 200 metres too where she won the bronze medal at the Sydney Olympics in 2000. But what happened ? She did not run at all, citing "injury" and carried the Lion flag in the march past at the opening ceremony. She disclosed her injury only on arrival in Athens, though certain persons know about it, but kept quiet for reasons best known to them. All her utterings proved to be damp squibs and should not be taken seriously hereafter. Even sponsors will think twice before coming forward. The Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, Jeevan Kumaratunga, should now study the reports about the Sri Lankan competitors at the Athens Olympics and take remedial action in his attempts to put things right. He was in Athens and so did his deputy Sripathi Sooriyaratchi and certain other Ministry high-ups. They saw, they heard and now what will they do ? The Minister has gone on record stating that our standards have declined at an alarming rate and that they (the Ministry) has some "long term plans" to rectify this problem. What are these so-called "long term plans". It is good if the ministry join hands with and work out remedial measures for the good of sports so that Sri Lanka will be able to raise its head once again in the International scene. Minister Kumaratunga has also commented that the "experience" gained by the competitors was valuable and have also said that he found no fault in officials, too, going as they too get "experience". Strange comments for the Minister to make, and this too after the same Minister said that he will curtail trips of officials when he took over the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports after the general election in April this year. The rugby mess The Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union (SLRFU) should stamp their authority regarding the recruitment of overseas players by various clubs as these players mostly from the southern hemisphere seem to take the law into their own hands. Apart from their earnings as rugby players in their own country, most of them are unemployed. When they arrive in Sri Lanka and earn big money, they go berserk. They spend their time and money at Casinos and Night Clubs (no one can grudge because it's their private life) and get into hot water. There has been a case of murder too a few years back and rape of the British tourist woman too. The clubs must be having "go betweens" who help them in recruiting these players. It's these persons who recommend the players and they too should take some sort of responsibility. One leading club was made to look feels with their recruits and sent them back after a few games. How much the club lost on this deal is any one's guess. These overseas players are played very well and looked after too. The clubs should also take into their possession the travel documents of the overseas recruits once they land in Colombo. One player who assaulted a referee, vanished the same night when he was about to be arrested. He was supposed to have been spirited away by one of the leading players of this club side. The host club was held responsible. Now there is a big question mark hanging over the Clifford Cup Championship. It's a court case now - the first the SLRFU is facing in over a century. Certain clubs have shown lack of interest as their players are not in training and that they have no finances to pay their overseas recruits for a longer duration. Even the sponsors are disappointed about the whole affair. What has happened to our rugby and its administration/administrators ? When will this all end ? Disgruntled shuttlers Of the few disgruntled shuttlers who are having their differences with the controlling body (SLBA), some met their waterloo at a recent tournament conducted by one of its affiliates. Two of them lost in the third-round to very young players in the 'pool', while another, fearing defeat did not compete. Even now, will these men's players admit that they cannot compete and win always with much younger and fitter opponents ? All are awaiting to see what disciplinary action the SLBA will take against these players, but it seems that the issue is being soft-peddled. |
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