National Sports Council here to stay despite winds of change
View(s):A dynamic team led by the former Commander of Sri Lanka Army and ex-President of Athletic Association of Sri Lanka, Maj. Gen. Daya Ratnayake were given appointment letters as members of the new National Sports Council (NSC) on Thursday.
The move was initiated by the Ministry of Sports the Duncan White Auditorium in Torrington with the presence of the Minister of Sports Harin Fernando and the Secretary to the Ministry Chulananda Perera.
“The interpretations made about these individuals appointed to the NSC were overwhelming. Their backgrounds are such, that they are capable of putting the sports arena, in whole, on a proper path,” Perera, a government servant with over three decades of experience, stated.
In the recent times under different Sports Ministers, NSCs were appointed from time to time, but most of them have been inactive or functioning at a rather slow pace. Despite being appointed in accordance to the Sports Law of No.23 of 1973, by different Ministers of Sports, this time around, the minister in charge, Harin Fernando hopes to have a strong entity that could work through a long time.
“We, as politicians, may come and go. But forming the NSC is with a long term plan, where even in our absence it could function as an independent unit to support the smooth flow of the country’s sports arena. Political changes may happen or not, but we would like to see the field of sports being taken on the correct path,” Minister Fernando stated.
According to observations made by the Ministry of Sports during the couple of weeks, Ministry Secretary Perera revealed that most out of the 63 affiliated sports associations or federations, come with personal agendas, except for one or two. The Ministry of Sports has been granted with Rs 7 Billion in 2018 through the national budget but Perera went on to say that the distribution has been done unfairly.
“We have strengths in our side. There is a network, though not fully functioning, a structure called National Sports Festival, then the support of government and private institutions and coverage received from the media in addition to the handsome allocation from the budget. But with all these we are not doing up to our potential. Last year Rs 1500 Million has been spent on just one ground, this is a crime. We lack to our athletes, there are communication failures at regional and provincial level, there’s no proper guidelines and regulations and there are loopholes within the national sports regulation itself. NSC was formed to address these issues and take forward the sports with a proper plan,” added Perera.
The NSC includes Professor Arjun de Silva (Deputy President of Anti Doping Authority), Dhammika Muthugala (Director General Sports), Sajith Jayalal (Director General National Sports Science), Manjula Kariyawasam (former Director Ministry of Education – Sports), Lt. Col. D.T.L.S. Karawitage (Member of the National Para Games Association), M. Hafeez Marso (Member from the Police Department and former Director of National Intelligence), Sidath Wettimuny (former Sri Lanka Test cricketer), Asanga Seneviratne (former President of Sri Lanka Rugby), Panduka Keerthinanda (Legal Expert, Attorney at Law), Asoka Gunatilleke (veteran Senior Sports Journalist), Priyantha Ekanayake (former Sri Lanka rugby player), Sriyani Kulawansa (veteran international athlete and Project Officer for Ministry of Education) and Shalika Kariyawsam (Secretary of NSC).
Commenting soon after receiving the official appointment Maj. Gen. Daya Ratnayake stated that the first task of NSC would be to sit, discuss, identify the tasks and complete the mission.
“We must identify what our areas are. Many have tried come out with a work plan earlier but failed. But we need to start off somewhere, we must prepare, organised and make our journey. The team is really good and strong. If we plan and lay out a programme and implement it, others in time to come will follow accordingly,” he said.