How will the Galle Face protest philosophy influence our sports?
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Boys are seen engaging in a game of football. Pic by: Akila Jayawardena
Truth is an uncomfortable nexus. A bunch of kids who have created an institution called ‘GotaGoGama’ (GGG) at Sri Lanka’s famous landscape, has heightened the mental state of a moribund populace, the tenet that the truth shall ultimately prevail. It has all but accounted for a surreal king who thought that a war victory afforded the blatant stripping of a land called paradise, and given ample notice to all who infest the hallowed precincts of the state legislature, that a new moral code is wafting over this forsaken land!
The message is crystal clear; ‘no more shall we take the excreta that is offered so vaingloriously as manna from on high’. This bold assembly of people from all walks of life, intend to dictate time and again, that the man in the street and the lads in the field, matter. Their voice shall represent the yearning of citizens who for long have been misled by promises that are never kept and last as long as a misshapen election queue.
The local sports firmament did not go unnoticed. Our international icons expressed their solidarity and spoke with one salient voice. The National Sports Council (NSC) quickly dispersed even while a second tier sports minister was appointed to regroup and keep the game in play.
But the message brooked no ambiguity. On stage and on line, they stood together and identified with the mass uprising that all was not right in this godforsaken land. Merit had ceased being a yardstick of honour. It had instead become a turning, twisting cantankerous distortion of the method and talent that must otherwise govern our sports. With meagre funds and an acute dearth of dollars, the Ministry of Sports (MoS) nor its subordinate departments, did little to announce a revised policy that must prevail in this difficult period. All the sporting ex-minister did was, disband the legitimate Rugby Union as a last throw of the dice, before decamping office and parting company with the government of the day.
The National Olympic Committee (NOC) went one better in its preparation for the Commonwealth Games (CWG). Its President glibly implied that those who can afford, will go, not necessarily those who qualify. So, it was apparent that the customary juggernaut was all set to descend on Birmingham. Cricket and rugby have the means it stated, while the others will depend on benevolent sponsorships.
No sooner than this edict went out, two miscreants paid a nocturnal visit to the NOC Secretary’s house and manhandled him, before taking off in his own car which was later found abandoned. Surely, an act not to be condoned by any organization, let alone the country’s sportsmen. Thus, it behooves both the MoS and the NOC to make a joint declaration about who will go to the CWG (the Asian Games is now postponed).
In a situation like this, should it not be a nominal representation? Cannot we limit the full contingent to the President or Secretary, the Chef-de-Mission and each qualified NSF, depending on the size of their respective teams? That will set the tone for just who must go, if Sri Lanka chooses to maintain its participation in the CWG.
Of course the moneybags will persist. Several sports bodies have no such qualms. Boxing, which is in a continuous spat with the NOC or badminton for instance, who have major backers, where funds are a no big deal even in these desolate times. The boxing czar may want to flaunt his new IBA status but IOC recognition remains in denial.
In a recent press release, badminton well-wishers made a case for only two events that bear entry; the Men’s Doubles and the Mixed Doubles. They bemoaned the need for a full contingent including an aged grandmaster. Three athletes and a coach would be adequate, they argue? Many other sports obviously face the same temptation, to beg, borrow and go, but they must all come to terms with this new reality.
On another front, take the shenanigans of football. The President is facing a string of legal challenges and suspension of the Extraordinary General Meeting to adopt a new constitution. Here too, money is of no issue it seems, as the former Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) Rasputin (s) proclaimed for long.
The last international coach was kicked upstairs and then sent packing, on the grave understanding that funds were not available. Now comes the hurrah; an unabashed announcement that three new coaches have been appointed with funding from the Aspire Foundation in Qatar.
Smacks of the heydays of a football supremo whose constant tryst with another Qatari, led to lifelong bans. So much for so little; corrupt malpractices that the MoS must reign in with greater vigor, if our sports are to adorn a veneer of respectability.
Sri Lanka is facing grave hardships. So, these customary bandwagons must be discouraged. Corruption in sport must be totally discouraged and those culpable, named and shamed. Zero tolerance is the need of the hour. The National Selectors must put their foot down and wean away the fat that is eternally airborne!
The MoS and NOC must play ball and run in tandem. This is the transparency that Galle Face protestors are clamoring for. Cut out the deadwood and stick to fundamentals. Sri Lanka cannot accommodate the extravaganza that has been our way of life. Sports must take the lead in this new wave of national responsibility.
The NOC must publish well in advance, the names and titles of those accredited to go to CWG. Sri Lanka Football must adopt a greater transparency. These measures will dispel the notion of hangers-on and demonstrate that our token presence in Birmingham is well conceived and justified.
Certainly, not the work of manipulations and stratagems that are the standard practice. By the time this essay breaks, a new Minister of Sports may be resident at Reid Avenue. It will be his task, to hit the bouncer to the stands! Remember, the protestors are watching and waiting.