Sri Lanka bows out of SAG with Gold Medals and Dengue Cases!
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This column stays with the SAG (South Asian Games) regional spectacle for the third time over the last few weeks because it mirrors what Sri Lanka sports is all about. Talent abounds but our own fault lines render ineffective and indifferent results in the end. The incidence of dengue cases among our sportsmen and sportswomen brought to the surface what is endemic in all our sports administrations starting from the Ministry of Sports (MOS) and meandering to all National Sports Associations (NSAs) along with its parent body, the much heralded National Olympic Council (NOC). What is clearly evident is the arrogant abuse of power at all levels which ultimately the athlete has to bear in silence and servitude.
The Minister of Sports has very rightly taken umbrage at the callous aptitude of those in charge at the Sugathadasa Sports Hostel but he must not take to task a lowly official but the highest authorities who turned the whole SAG campaign into a circus even before the contingent left the island. The results are mostly the effort and determination of the athletes and their handlers it must be said. That credit cannot go to the those minions of officials at the MOS and Olympic House who conducted a contest of their own in selecting and composing the final teams that left our shores. The allowance statement doing the rounds on social media tells the story.
The leaked document that lists out the allocated funds for Ministry officials while athletes gave medals without praise or support until the end
Their infiltration into the NSAs to pick candidates that were not submitted by the NSAs in the first place was a big joke. While appeals to the MOS and NOC are the normal procedure in any international meet, arbitrary decisions cannot be made by these bodies without the concurrence of the NSAs. The minister must not only look for the mosquito breeders at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium, but he must also unearth the panjandrums who concocted the justification to travel to Nepal on the tailcoats of the powers that be in both the premier sports institutions. As this column observed in its last publication, the Director General – MOS plainly admitted to many shortcomings; can this admission now be recorded and collaborated in a special investigation. At the same time, can the NOC president institute a careful audit of what went wrong in Kathmandu and other venues where facilities were not perfect and many teams were inconvenienced? The blame cannot go only to the Nepalese organizers but also to our Chef de Mission and his team who were caught napping, in spite of the many assurances given piously in Colombo.
At many briefings at MOS and NOC, the sessions never started on time and once started merely repeated the stratagem that all was not going to be great in Nepal, but we will do our best! No session dealt with competitive standards and our own strategy to produce the best results. MOS and NOC officials were overawed by logistic considerations and while some certainly did their best, there were many officials and their worthy army of assistants acting as if they were God’s gift to mankind. These people behave as if they are the last repository of sport prowess. This overall attitude must stop. And the NOC that promised much at its last elections must fulfill the pledges made. Or there is little doubt that the NSAs will provide sharp responses the next time around.
So the Minister of Sports must order a careful study by an independent team, not the Turks who control the MOS and the NOC. The hangers-on must be shown the door and a transparent process begun as proposed before; a National Sports Portal must be launched so that all sports lovers can post what ails their particular sport and will encourage ideas whose time may have come. We have a new government that is here to stay for all intents and purposes. Let not sports be cast aside for lesser mortals to tamper with. We need to bring in the best and send some of the rotters packing home! We salute all our athletes who brought glory to our motherland by their own free spirit. Only to them do we owe a debt of gratitude. Your breathtaking triumph tells us what can be if only this nation gets its act together and do what is right.