Sri Lanka badminton gains international notoriety

The outlawing of the rot-ridden Sri Lanka Badminton Federation by the world governing body, the World Badminton Federation, may have come as a shock to the unsuspecting follower, but the manner in which the sport was administered had consistently put the welfare of its progress in jeopardy and the banning comes as no surprise to those who cried fowl on the conduct of its affairs.

In banning the Sri Lanka Badminton Association, the world governing body of the sport had effectively shut out Sri Lankan players from contesting international meets, cut off funding and proscribed officials from taking part in global forums and meetings.

From what has been stated in the directive to Sri Lanka, it appears that the World Badminton Federation has been well informed and fully aware of the rot that had been taking place in the administration of the sport in the island. According to one analyst who had been following the conduct of affairs of the sport in Sri Lanka, the mess had been part and parcel for the past 15 years followed by sports ministers of the past gradually interfering and paving the way for their henchmen to be elected to administrators.

"Candidates (seeking office) have to understand that for the mess to be cleaned up there must be no outside influence. Badminton must be the only sport where parents of players have a big say in running the sport's affairs. How come we don't hear of parents of cricketers or rugby players having a say when it comes to these two sports. This is the difference", he said.

On six occasions the Sri Lanka Badminton Federation had failed to conduct its election of office bearers and in a seventh attempt voters, current office-bearers and opponents will come together on Monday (July 27) to elect administrators with a view to convincing the world body to lift the ban. "The elected Sri Lanka Federation will have to prove to the world body that there will be no government interference in badminton and that the Clause pertaining to such a Constitution has been removed which will be a tough call for anyone to make", said one observer.

It had been reported in the recent past that player selections for international representation had been done by parents of players and school masters and on one occasion during the Nationals a player had been told to lose his match deliberately, allegedly by a high ranking member of the Federation in order to enable the son of his benefactor to win.

There had also been the case of a former sports minister lifting the ban on a player who was serving a penalty for disciplinary reasons.

For the ban to be lifted the Badminton World Federation (BWF) has directed the Sri Lanka Badminton Federation (SLBF) to have its Constitution fall in line with that of the requirements of the BWF meaning that there be no direct interference in the governance and operations of the SLBF by the government of Sri Lanka and the holding of an election.

What the BWF cannot come to grips with is the Sports Law in Sri Lanka that prohibits all obstacles to good governance but is undermined by the Sports Minister able to grant permission to anyone with links to outlawed declarations to hold office in a sports controlling body.