Hemasiri lashes out at Glasgow poor show
Hemasiri Fernando, the President of National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Sri Lanka lashed out at sports governing bodies of Sri Lanka for taking a contingent of 104 athletes just to give exposure. He called it ‘nonsense’
He told the Sunday Times that if officials were of the view that an event such as the Commonwealth Games was a platform to just expose their athletes, there are other events that could be made use of for such things.
Fernando added he is in no position to justify the fact that Sri Lanka managed to secure just one medal despite fielding a massive contingent of 104 athletes. Sri Lanka comes among the top 15 countries out of the total 71, for the biggest group at the Games.
“If the athletes needed exposure, the technology is such today that we can make use of the internet and make the maximum of it. Coming here in large numbers and returning empty handed is unacceptable,” Fernando stated.
Besides the 100-plus athletes 46 officials were with them for the 20th Commonwealth Games, which comes to an end here at Glasgow today. Sri Lanka were able to win just one medal – a silver in weightlifting – through team leader Sudesh Peiris. In addition a large number of former sports stars and top government officials were present to witness the Games.
“Sri Lanka has over 52 registered sports governing bodies but observations have proved that there are as little as only five to six sports that are medal prospects at this level. What should be done is these sports should be focused upon from now targeting the next Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast in 2018. This is a repeated request, we, as the NOC, making to the relevant sports governing bodies. We made the same request four years ago. Unfortunately Sri Lanka’s habitual practice of naming a team when the event is around the corner is being strictly followed by the officials for the past 30 years. By making workable reminders we have become jokers,” a furious Fernando added.
Sudesh Peiris – the only redeeming point
Sri Lanka’s medal hopes were on two-time Commonwealth Games medal winner, weightlifter Chinthana Geethal Vidanage, boxers Manju Wanniarachchi and Anuruddha Ratnayake, badminton players Niluka and Dinuka Karunaratne and women’s javelin thrower Nadeeka Lakmali. Besides the Karunaratnes and Lakmali – who were able to impress in their respective events – others were shown the exit from the first round.
Another hopeful, high jumper Manjula Kumara was not granted visa by the British High Commissioner’s Office in Colombo. Sri Lanka’s last representation at the Games was on Friday when the Men’s 4x400metre relay team competed in the heats. But the relay team failed to qualify for the final round after clocking 3 minutes and 8.10 seconds. Fernando stated that certain individuals, despite knowing the bitter truth, pass on the accountability on to the NOC after the event.
“What we have to tell them is that the NOC only does the coordinating part between the country and the event. And we are not responsible for producing medals but the relevant governing bodies are. The NOC is not a medal-producing factory. How is it when a medal is won, credit is taken by them (governing bodies) and when there are none the NOC becomes the culprit,” asked Fernando.
The Sri Lankan Government spent over Rs. 30Million on air tickets for the total group which includes the athletes, officials and other invitees. Despite the major flop in Glasgow, Sri Lanka is hoping to send a contingent of a similar head count for the forthcoming Asian Games to be held in Incheon, South Korea. In total Sri Lanka has won four gold medals, six silver medals and four bronze medals at Commonwealth Games inclusive of the silver medal won by team leader Peiris.