Fresh regulations to facilitate ‘Election Committee’ process
For sports lovers and the general public, sports law, regulations and election committees are irrelevant - Pic Amila Gamage
Fresh amendments to the sports regulations is to be gazetted soon and it will have a major impact on the election processes of National Sports Associations as appointment of members to the Election Committee will be based on the “grade” to which they belong (there are three classifications). The regulations will allow the Ministry of Sports to group the sports bodies into three grades–A, B and C–based on their annual turnover and membership.
The appointment of an Election Committee was made mandatory by the 2016 regulations but neither the qualifications to be a member not their role was specified. This allowed ruling members of national associations to get their own henchmen appointed, often resulting in violation of election laws.
“On receipt of an application for the registration of a National Association of Sports and on payment of the said fee, the Director General shall recommend to the Minister of Sports to register such National Association, having classified the Association based on the following criteria as per Regulation 2(5) of Regulation published in Gazette No. 1990/23 dated 27/10/2016,” the draft reads.
Thus, associations with an annual turnover of Rs 50 million and membership of over 25 are classified as ‘grade A’ while those associations with an annual income less than Rs 50 million but more than Rs. 10 Million and a membership of over 25 have been classified as ‘grade B’.
Grade C comprises those associations whose turnover is Rs 10 million but can have any number of members. However, a provision has been made for the Sports Minister to elevate an association to a higher category based on the performance of an individual or team at an international sports event. This will allow a sport like weightlifting to jump to rise to a higher grade based on achievement even if their annual turnover remains low.
A five member committee will be appointed by the Director General of Sports in consultation with the Minister of sports to evaluate and grade all the national sports associations already registered with the Department of Sports Development.
“The said Committee shall complete the grading to the Director General within one week of the referring of the same for its review,” the regulations reads.
Under the new regulations, the three members of the Election Committee should be appointed by an Special General Meeting or an Extraordinary General Meeting. Accordingly, an association in grade A should have two retired judges of the High Court or the Court of Appeal and a retired senior member of the Election Department or the Election Commission or any retired Senior Public Official with experience in conducting elections.
In grade B, the committee shall comprise of one retired Judge of the High Court and / or the court of Appeal and two retired senior members of the Election Department or the Election Commission or two any retired Senior Public officials.
The Election Committee in a grade C association shall include three retired Senior Public Officers with experience in conducting Elections. None of these public officers should hold any positions in the respective association.
Each Election Committee has been granted a two month window to call for a poll and will have the “authority to determine the eligibility of all candidates qualified to be elected as office bearers in terms of Sports Law, the constitution of the respective national association of sports and the applicable regulations”.
An Election Committee shall also have the authority to formulate an eligibility criteria for voters and to scrutinize voter lists to determine their eligibility to elect office bearers, to call nominations and to finalize the same in order to conduct the election process. They shall finalize the voting list in 14 days and the list of candidates eligible to be elected as office bearers at least 21 days prior to the date scheduled for the election.
However, the decisions of the Election Committee are open to challenge through an appeal to the Sports Minister within one week. He, in turn, l refer it to a newly formed Advisory Board comprising three Judges of Appeal Court or higher in the case of those associations falling in Grade A and B and three Senior retired Public Officials relating to grade C.
The Minister shall convey his decision to the relevant National Association of Sports within seven working days, which shall be final and conclusive.
Once gazetted, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) election can be called no sooner. The poll was scheduled for May 31 but postponed following a court order. Even though it was vacated two weeks later, allowing the elections go ahead, the Sports Minister delayed it until fresh regulations are gazetted to allow for free and fair elections.