IOC discusses changes to the existing sports law with NOCSL
Besides meeting the Chinese Olympic Committee authorities and signing an MOU on training Lankan athletes, the Lankan Olympic Committee secretary Maxwell de Silva said that they met IOC top brass on an official capacity at the conclusion of the 18th Asian Games in Indonesia.
The most significant outcome of the meeting was the IOC top brass’s expectation that certain changes would be effected in the Sports Law of Sri Lanka. De Silva said the changes would be made in consultation with the Lankan ministry authorities, but, did not elaborate on the details.
However, the NOCSL secretary said, “The important learning from this year’s Asian Games is that we will have to put pressure on to the respective sports federations on quality. The sports federations should begin right now on how to plan out and execute the plan for the international commitment of the future. If there is no plan, there is no point in participating. The national federations should come out with a plan and at the same time we will also try to help them to move to the next level. So it will be a three-pronged effort where the national federations, the Sports Ministry and the National Olympic Committee work together. At the same time we are also hoping to set up a monitoring committee to see the progress of each federation on how it is performing.
“Otherwise it will be once again the same old story. Once again we will be sending a contingent of over hundred participants and expect nothing in return. So it’s imperative that we work with a plan and also strictly monitor the progress of the efforts.”
De Silva said there is no time frame to this exercise, but all we want is a programme that will work for Sri Lanka athletics.
The just concluded Asian Games was one of the biggest disappointments. A contingent of 177 competitors, the largest ever team to be sent by Sri Lanka, returned home empty-handed last week.