Sports Ministry questions NOC over ‘lack of transparency and accountability’
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NOC Secretary Maxwell de Silva's letter to the Ministry of Sports has raised questions over misuse of Government funds allocated to them - File pic
The Ministry of Sports has launched a scathing attack on the National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka (NOCSL) over “lack of transparency and accountability” in dealing with Government funds allocated to them.
This comes in the wake of an NOCSL attempt to avoid Government audits by saying the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) mandates complete independence and autonomy in sports administration.
In response to a letter from NOCSL Secretary General Maxwell de Silva–where he says that “at no stage has the Auditor General expressed an opinion that there have been any misuse of funds and/or any other fraudulent transactions that could be attributed to the NOCSL”–the Sports Ministry points to several questionable transactions reported in Government audits.
Director General of Sports Dhammika Muthugala has, for instance, highlighted issues raised in the 2017 audit. This includes non-availability of supporting bills for expenses amounting to over millions of rupees; giving away of gym equipment worth over Rs 10 million free of charge causing a financial loss to the institution; claiming US$ 10,000 each by the President and Secretary General in respect of travel and stay at the RIO Olympic Games despite getting paid by the IOC and their taking more than an year to settle the dues.
“Sums in the equivalents of $US 10,000 each in Sri Lankan Rupees have been charged to the NOCSL accounts in respect of the travel and stay of the President and Secretary General at the RIO Olympics Games in 2016 and reimbursed by the said recipients to NOCSL in 2017, after more than one year had elapsed.,” wrote Muthugala in a supporting letter to the Sports Minister’s own communication to NOC dated July 25, 2019.
“This is certainly a case of misuse of funds, particularly given that the IOC funds the travel and stay of the President and Secretary General for the Olympic Games and such monies were received from the IOC and withdrawn from the NOCSL accounts by the President and Secretary General in March 2016 and, despite the same, further equivalent sums were charged against the NOCSL accounts and reimbursed by the President and Secretary General only more than one year later,” he states.
De Silva, in his letter dated July 19, 2019, claimed that their accounts are being audited by the internationally acclaimed PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC) and that, thus far, there have been no adverse reports of mismanagement/misusing of IOC funds. He blames the Government Auditor for long delays in auditing their accounts.
However, Muthugala, reiterating that the NOCSL has deliberately held back submission of their accounts for auditing, thereby causing a delay, has asked the NOCSL to reveal the dates since 2010 on which they handed in their accounts to find out who is actually responsible.
“Government of Sri Lanka has to monitor all monies received from foreign sources as per the rules of the Monetary Board and we have no doubt such laws are prevalent in almost all countries of the world to keep in sync with the prevention of money laundering,” he states. “As such, even funds received from the UN bodies, the World Bank and other NGOs and NGOs are subject to the same.”
Although the NOCSL receives sufficient funds from their international donors–IOC and the Olympic Council of Asia (AOC)–the Government spent substantial amounts of public funds on activities such as sending athletes for foreign competition. This requires Government auditing.
Even though international sport bodies urge independent, autonomous administration of local bodies around the world, they also expect them to respect the laws of the country. Given the international pressure, the Sports Ministry in consultation with the NOCSL and IOC, are currently revamping Sri Lanka’s old Sports Law. Most international sports associations, including IOC, demand complete independence in sports associations. The Sports Ministry, while agreeing to most conditions, has insisted on the need for Government audits.
“As you are aware, the current focus is to revamp and/or restructure the Sports Law in a manner that would completely take away the undue political influence and/or interference in sports administration, which is prevalent in Sri Lanka, which is frowned upon by International Sports Bodies, such as International Sports Federations and the International Olympic Committee,” Maxwell de Silva wrote on July 19 to the Minister of Sports.