NOC-SLO feud hots up over Olympian Run
Former Olympians Sriyani Kulawansa and Damayanthi Darsha
A major battle is brewing between the National Olympic Committee and Sri Lanka’s ex-Olympians over rival events they have organised to mark the Olympic Day Run.
Sri Lanka Olympians (SLO), an organisation that bring together Sri Lankan athletes who have taken part in Olymic games, has scheduled its run for June 22 in Kandy — an event which the National Olympic Committee sees as an event that rivals its Olympic Day Run on June 25.
On the face of it, the Kandy run appears to be a gigantic effort where all forty seven former Lankan athletes who have represented the country at various Olympic Games, coming together for a cause.
Records show 96 Olympians have represented Sri Lanka. Of them 20 are living abroad, and the balance 47 Olympians are shouldering this wheel.
However the catch point is that this event has triggered a tug-of-war with the National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka, which will hold its event in Nuwara Eliya on June 25 with Jayanthi Kuru-Utumpala and Johann Peries who successfully climbed Mt. Everest as lead personnel.
Airing the views of the Kandy event organisers was former Lankan athlete Sriyani Kulawansa, the President of the Sri Lanka Olympians. She said, “We launched this project not with any ulterior motives or an intention of creating any disharmony. At the same time we also have no intention of getting involved with any matters pertaining to the NOCSL.
“Here the bottom line is two pronged. The first is to see to the welfare of former Olympians. The second is to teach the next generation of Lankan athletes the value of an Olympic medal. Ironically we still have won only two Olympic medals in our history. We established this movement on July 15 last year and we are proud that we are now able to undertake a project of this magnitude.”
Kulawansa has misgivings. That is the non-participation of Sri Lanka’s sole living Olympic medalist Susanthika Jayasingha, though she has been selected as the patron of the movement. The reason is all other positions she said were not permanent; people who hold such positions could be voted out. But, the position of patron is lifetime.
Maxwell de Silva
Kulawansa added, “When we initially set up this movement we gave them a copy of our future plans and a copy of our constitution. At that point NOC secretary general Maxwell de Silva sent a letter to the International Olympic Committee asking them to recognise our movement on an Sri Lanka Olympians (SLO) letterhead signed by him. Then we also had a round of discussions between the SLO, the NOCSL and the then Sports Minister, Dayasiri Jayasekera, about our movement; but since Minister Jayasekera ceased to hold office there has been a change of heart on the part of the NOC.”
However NOC secretary general Maxwell de Silva says they are against anyone hijacking one of our perennial events – the Olympic Day Run – which has been one of our main events in the calendar. “They cannot use the Olympic rings at any cost. That property belongs to the IOC and none can use it without the consent of the IOC.
“We have written to the World Olympians Association and aired our concerns about the impending situation and they have duly responded also by sending a communiqué through Ms Rebecca Pike of the WOA. But, it seems that it is heading towards an impasse and if so we will have to take necessary action in conjunction with the IOC. They may even be delisted”
The letters sent to Olympian Damayanthi Dharsha by Rebecca Pike of the WOA reads:
Damayanthi,
Your press release attached was brought to my attention by my colleagues from the IOC NOC Relations department who have spent a lot of time and effort speaking with the Sri Lankan NOC and encouraging them to form a positive working relationship with you.
As I said on the phone last week during your meeting, it is very important that you build a trusting relationship with your NOC by respecting the responsibility that the NOC has for Olympic branding and symbols in Sri Lanka. You told me that you were happy to take WOA’s advice with regards to Olympic Day (set out in the email below) and would work towards a positive supporting relationship with the NOC in future, with help from WOA and the IOC.
The press release that you sent contradicts the understanding that we had, as you have referred to Olympic Day and used the Olympic rings, which WOA expressly told you was not acceptable and should not be done.
Before WOA decides the appropriate course of action please explain why you ignored WOA’s advice and why you didn’t inform WOA prior to making this publication.
On a personal note I’m disappointed about the situation as following our discussion I thought we had reached an understanding for the best interests of your NOA, NOC and the Olympic Movement in Sri Lanka.
Please respond as soon as possible and please desist on the use of Olympic branding and symbols on any further communication.
Signed: Rebecca
From: Rebecca Pike <rebecca.pike@thewoa.org>
Sent: jeudi, 24 mai 2018 17:56
To: ‘DAMAYANTHI DARSHA’ <darshad@slolympians.com>
Cc: Malav Shroff <malav.shroff@olympian.org>; Sriyani Kulawansha <hurdles.sri@gmail.com>; SUGATH THILAKARATNE <sugatht@talnaholdings.com>; Julian Bolling <66jubo@gmail.com>; Chanaka Jayamaha <chanaka.jayamaha@gmail.com>; mike.miller@thewoa.org
Subject: RE: FW: Olympic Day Run – in Kandy 2018
Dear Damayanthi,
Thank you for keeping us informed of all the correspondence you are receiving from your NOC on this issue.
As you are aware, NOCs are responsible for the use of the Olympic brand within their countries. Therefore it is important that you seek to work with and support your NOC, which I know you have been trying to do.
I have been speaking with my colleagues from the IOC NOC Relations department who has been in contact with the Sri Lanka NOC about the issue of your event in Kandy. Both the IOC and WOA are supportive of positive collaboration between all NOAs and NOCs. To date the messages to the Sri Lanka NOC from the IOC have been consistent with this spirit of collaboration. Shortly a formal letter is being sent from the IOC to Sri Lanka NOC reinforcing their responsibility for Olympic branding in Sri Lanka etc, but also to strongly encourage collaboration with the SLO. However the IOC is not able to force the NOC to approve the activity that you have organised.
Because of the limited time before your event, WOA’s advice to the SLO is as follows:
Ensure that you have done all you can to offer support the NOC with the Olympic Day activities they are running. Please forward me any correspondence.
The event in Kandy should still go ahead (as we recognise that cancelling at this stage would be very negative for the community and any organisations involved with the operations). But unless the Sri Lanka NOC change their position, you should not use the Olympic rings and not use the word Olympic. And in this instance WOA also advises that you should avoid using any torch symbols or other words or symbols connected with Olympic Day such as ‘move, learn, discover’. I think it would be ok to call the event an Olympians run or race instead, to keep it factual.
Please formally inform your NOC of your plans to alter the messages / branding of the event in Kandy so that they can see the steps you are taking to diffuse the issue. We also advise using this moment to ask the NOC to be part of planning for next year so that any activity that you support or deliver is fully agreed.
Please forward me all of your correspondence so that I can keep it on file and forward to the IOC NOC Relations department for their information. I would like to be able to show the steps you take to try and resolve this disagreement.
WOA are committed to help you improve relations with your NOC so that your NOA can be most effective in future.
Please let me know if you’d like to discuss any of this on the phone.
Best wishes,
Signed: Rebecca