Four more Interim Committees to face elections in December
The Ministry of Sports has taken steps to disband four sports governing bodies run by interim committees in order to hold fresh elections before the end of this year. Accordingly the Sri Lanka Gymnastic Association, Sri Lanka Bodybuilding Federation, Sri Lanka Cycling Federation and Sri Lanka Shooting Federation have been dissolved. According to Director General of Sports of Ministry of Sports, Ms. Ranjani Jayakody, it has been decided to call in nominations of these four sports governing bodies during the third week of November.
On October 7, the Ministry of Sports issued a gazette notification vesting authority on the Director General of Sports to dissolve the sports bodies governed by interim committees. However Handball Federation of Sri Lanka, the fifth sport governing body run by an interim committee has not been dissolved by the Director General of Sports.
Ms. Ranjani Jayakody ordered the elections on instructions by Minister of Sports Mahindananda Aluthgamage. - Pic by Amila Gamage
Ms. Jayakody commenting on the progress told the Sunday Times that the Ministry of Sports could not interfere into the Handball Federation as it was involved in a legal battle.
“To be accurate, these four sports associations are still active and necessarily do not need to be dissolved because they are run by interim committees. They have been advised to promptly hold the elections in a democratic manner before the end of the year. But on the Handball Federation, we will have to wait and see the progress of the legal proceeding before making a final decision,” she said.
The Cycling Federation will be the first among the four to hold election on December 19 with the Shooting Federation following next on December 20. The deadlines for calling in nominations for these two Federations will be November 18 and 20 respectively. The Gymnastic Association will hold their election on December 23 and nominations will be open until November 22. The Bodybuilding Federation is set to elect their officials on December 24 and the deadline for calling in nominations will be November 22.
However all four sport associations will not enjoy the privilege of using their voting rights or nominating one of their candidates at the forthcoming election of the Sri Lanka National Olympic Committee. A top official of the NOC said that that sport associations governed by interim committees will not be granted with voting rights at its next election and since nominations for the NOC election closes on November 14, these sport bodies will not be able to name any elected officials by then.
If the elections take place as scheduled on December 19, 20, 23 and 24, only the Handball Federation will remain as the only sport governing body governed by an Interim Committee. Out of the total of 54 Sports bodies ten were governed by Interim Committees back in 2009. However the numbers dwindled significantly with the adoption of the new Sports Law.