SLASU president positive of FINA ban being lifted
Following the appeal letter sent on August 18 by the Sri Lanka Aquatic Sports Union (SLASU) to the global governing body FINA, with regard to Sri Lanka’s international ban from competitions, the likelihood of restoring its status looks bright, according to Nethru Nanayakkara.
Elected president of SLASU on July 19 last year with a majority of 16 votes, Nanayakkara has also sent a translated English copy of the minutes of the Annual General Meeting (AGM) and elections to FINA, who had responded favourably.
With SLASU already serving an international ban of two years since November 2018, Nanayakkara has officially written to FINA’s Executive Director Cornel Marculescu, outlining the fact that the Sri Lanka’s governing body for swimming and diving has already rectified the reasons that caused the current ban by holding elections last year.
“The Sri Lanka Aquatic Sports Union (SLASU) which was suspended by the Ministry of Sports by gazette No. 2097/49 dated 16 November 2018 was annulled by the election of new office bearer coordinated by the Ministry of Sports on 19 July 2019. The copy of the minutes of the conduct of the elections in the local language and a sworn translation of same is attached herewith for you reference,” the letter states.
Based on that, Nanayakkara noted that further progress could be made by requesting FINA to clear the way for Sri Lankan swimmers to take part in international competitions again.
SLASU faced the ban on November 16, 2018, following a gazette notification issued by the then Sri Lanka’s Minister of Sports Faiszer Musthapha. This created a situation where SLASU came under an interim committee, through which swimmers represented Sri Lanka, following FINA’s ban which came soon after.
FINA, further explaining the reason behind the ban, stated that it does not identify the SLASU governed by an interim committee, as its legitimate representative. Before that Mahinda Liyanage was elected president of SLASU.
The gravity of the ban was highlighted when FINA rejected a team recommended by SLASU to represent Sri Lanka at an international meet. FINA also explained that it will not identify a committee elected through governmental intervention, that SLASU should conduct elections according to its own constitution. Accordingly, on July 19 2019, the present committee was elected.
“We did not feel the international ban heavily this year, mainly due to the coronavirus pandemic. But Sri Lanka has served the ban for more than two years and next year is an important one for us. That’s because Sri Lanka hopes to prepare for the World Swimming Championship and the Tokyo Olympics, and to get everything cleared up is important now,” Nanayakkara stated.
The current international ban imposed on SLASU by FINA was one of the main subjects discussed when the present administration met with Sports Minister Namal Rajapaksa. The minister has pledged his support to SLASU in getting the ban lifted.
“The Sports Minister requested a copy of the letter that was sent to the FINA executive director to further look into the matter. We shared it duly and we were told that a letter from the Sports Ministry would be sent to FINA further explaining the situation,” added Nanayakkara, who commended the minister’s intervention.
According to available information, FINA has requested the Asian Swimming Association (ASA) to look into SLASU’s request and make further recommendations. The correspondence between Sri Lanka and the regional bodies are in progress now, according to Nanayakkara.
“Since the election, the newly elected committee has been coordinating its affairs with the FINA recognised committee by its president Mr. Mahinda Liyanage in carrying out its activities to date, including fielding athletes for the FINA World Junior Championships, Hungary 2019 and the Asian Age Group Championships, Bangalore 2019. We would like to request that since these activities are functioning in a normal manner that FINA recognises the duly elected committee and updates its records accordingly to function directly with FINA,” the letter sent by SLASU to FINA states.
However according to protocol, the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of any country will be the last resort in mediating and handling the matter further between the local, regional and global bodies. NOC Sri Lanka is already aware of the development and are keen to take a clear background check of the whole incident.
“Yes, we are aware of what is taking place with SLASU, but we cannot say anything right now because there are things we also must thoroughly investigate. As far as I’m concerned there shouldn’t be any trouble with what has taken place recently. The NOC will study the case and deliver recommendations to the relevant parties. We will need some time for that,” said Maxwell de Silva, the NOC secretary general.