Certain individuals are ruining bodybuilding claims SLVBOC
The Sri Lanka Veterans Bodybuilding Officials Committee (SLVBOC), which comprises a convoy of former national champions, bodybuilders and officials who held numerous positions at the controversial Sri Lanka Bodybuilding Federation (SLBBF), has made an official protest to the Minster of Sports for being partial on them.
Speaking to journalists on Thursday at a specially arranged press conference, SLVBOC members Chandana Aluthge, Pathmasiri Perera, Anura Fernando and Hemal Dias stated in unison that the Ministry of Sports has failed to identify the real culprits who has dragged bodybuilding in Sri Lanka to its current pathetic state, and instead the top hierarchy acts as a blessing in disguise in favour of certain individuals who continued to ruin the SLBBF for the past 13 years.
Aluthge and SLVBOC accuse, Kapila Kumara (right) has brought nothing but disgrace to the sport, despite SLBBF held its annual Mr. Sri Lanka contest, with the blessings of Ministry of Sports. - File pic
“This is tragic. We have made official complaints, with documented proof to the Ministry of Sports about a certain individual who has made the SLBBF his family business. But sadly the Ministry has turned a blind eye to our pleads over the years. If they (Ministry of Sports) accidentally neglected our request once or twice, we could consider it has human, but our protests have been run unheard for the past three years or so,” Aluthge, a former President, Secretary and Treasurer of SLBBF stated, marking the existence of Kapila Kumara, the incumbent President of the SLBBF which is being run as an interim committee since 2011.
Aluthge further revealed that he and the group of former veterans at SLVBOC was compelled to speed up their continuous objections after it found out the Ministry of Sports has made arrangements to hold the elections of SLBBF come Tuesday. With pending legal issues and corruption charges on Kumara, who has been in the top position since 2000, the SLVBOC members cry out that the Minister of Sports, Mahindananda Aluthgamage has an ethical right to listen to their plea and call off the intended elections.
“What we say to the Minister is that it is viable to bring the control of SLBBF under an independent governing committee until the skies are cleared. Or else we may have to take a step further as it gives none other than the impression that culprits are blessed in this land. While there were legal issues, corruption charges and proven misconducts the Ministry still went on to appoint Kumara as the chief of interim committee when the SLBBF was dispersed in 2011,” Aluthge, who came out of a two-year ban imposed by the Ministry of Sports said. According to SLVBOC members Kumara has misused his powers as the President of SLBBF over the period of 13 years to transform the bodybuilding federation into a business venture bringing in nepotism into its administration while earning millions of rupees through blind channels. In a letter addressed to the Minister of Sports the SLVBOC states that the SLBBF has committed grave misconducts, swindling a large amount of money generated over the last decade. The letter further states that the SLBBF has even managed to trick the Auditor General in its annual audit reports, while illegally altering its constitution to fit the interest of those who governed the body.
“The intolerable conduct of Kumara during the past 13 years has forced affiliated members, most of them who objected to his rule, of SLBBF in losing the voting rights. He made sure to keep the affiliated clubs out of the boundary by adopting unethical ways to cancel their annual registration. The number of affiliated clubs amounting to 800 has been severely affected by this conduct. Legally there are closer to 50 affiliated clubs and all of them are interestingly run by Kumara’s henchmen. To further prove this matter, I registered a club during the 1970s and its registration number was 27. Today the club’s registration number has been moved down to 97. This is despite paying the annual member fees and alls dues without interruption,” said Pathmasiri Perera, a member of the current five-member interim committee of SLBBF.
Interestingly Kumara held a similar press conference last week to point out the misconducts of Aluthge, a one-time comrade of his. During that press conference Kumara stated that Aluthge was banned for two years from holding any positions at the SLBBF due to his own ways of misconducts as an importer and manufacturer of exercise equipments. Kumara went on to say that Aluthge was not a qualified competitor whereas he has won a Mr. Sri Lanka competition in the 1990s.
“This is a total sham,” explained Aluthge who went on to reveal that he was unceremoniously banned for including a family member’s name into a list for an overseas tour.
“I was never given an opportunity to appeal. Months later I was told I could appeal and to date I did not receive any response from the Ministry of Sports. And time went by that my ban ended in June 2013 but during that period Kumara continued to become a favoured lapdog for reasons unknown. More interestingly he did neither win any competition nor did he compete at any event as a bodybuilder in Sri Lanka. The so called Mr. Sri Lanka event was not won but rigged, he duped former SLBBF President Jeffrey Schucroft’s signature in the certificate. He cannot say that I never competed or did not win. There are fellow competitors in the fraternity who knows about my achievements in bodybuilding. Kumara has three court cases against him and one of them is still being heard. He alleges of my misconducts but I never played out with any of SLBBF’s money. He is referring to the losses and gains of my own business which he has no moral right to talk about,” an angry Aluthge stated.
According to the SLVBOC members they are in possession with files of documented proof of all the fiscal misconducts occurred during the past decade. With all their pleas being turned down or neglected by the Ministry of Sports the SLVBOC members stated that they are left with a few options to rely on if relevant officials do not act swiftly.
“We are a bit contented with the International Olympic Committee’s recommendations issued to the Ministry of Sports. At least corrupted sports bodies of Sri Lanka will not be able to dance at their own will once this is enacted in six months. In our view this has given us a ray of hope, that SLBBF will be put on track as the rest of the 54 sports governing bodies in Sri Lanka. If this too fails to be productive we will produce all proofs to the Presidential Investigation Unit, the Fraud Bureau or the Anti Corruption Unit,” Aluthge revealed.