Sports

Sports

Over to you Mr. Minister!
By S.R. Pathiravithana
Sports and politics are two subjects that make the difference between the animal and man. Sri Lankans, even though they are smaller in stature than most of the athletes whom they compete with in various sports in the world arena they have made some significant achievements for which we in Sri Lanka are very proud of and have made some of the other more affluent competitors envious of us.

In short they have put us in the world map in a more meaningful manner than what the politicians have been able to do after nearly seventy years of universal franchise and fifty years of independence.

Just to give a bit of an insight to the earlier statement, Sri Lanka produced the first women (or a man for that matter) athlete to win a medal in a sprint event in the Olympics in the eastern hemisphere. Sri Lanka holds the highest team total in Cricket in the longer and the shorter versions of the game. Sri Lanka won the cricket World Cup before England, South Africa or New Zealand managed to win it.

A Sri Lankan scored a triple century in Test cricket before an Indian could do so and a Sri Lankan bowler is aspiring to become the all-time greatest bowler in the history of cricket. Now from that point onwards what are we doing to sustain this? Do we have the proper far sightedness? Do we possess the proper administrative infrastructures? Or do we have the answers to most of the problems that have cropped up in various sports within the last ten years?

Firstly taking athletics into consideration at present we have some thorough breds who are growing older by the hour, but, we have to keep the same lot running even in the smallest of meets to win the gold medals and keep the present officialdom happy in their seats for the time being. Are there any Susanthika's even an Sriyani Kulawansa in a horizon? Even at 34 the Kulawansa's still have to rake in the medals for Sri Lanka, as the cupboard for new blood is bare.

What happened to the National School Games, which was conducted in a grand scale and in a proper manner during president Premadasa's era? When their political tenure was over, down went the National School Games and the results produced from it. Why? All because some one else started it.

Cricket is by far the most popular game in this island. Just a few days ago the new office bearers were elected to office and what did they do, they bent backwards and selected an individual who publicly announced that he was not going to run for presidency for the third time just to represent Sri Lanka cricket abroad. Isn't there any one in present lot of officials who can hobnob with the ICC hierarchy and hold his own? Hasn't the present CEO of Sri Lanka Cricket played enough cricket to be recognized and respected by the ICC? If it is not so why is he holding that post?

Then coming down to school cricket why are the same faces go on and on holding on to their seats? The present secretary of the SLSCA has gown from his youth to his middle age while occupying the same seat for twenty years. When this type of thing happens new ideas are blocked and the result ensuing will be the degeneration of the game.

In hockey, official bungling is rampant. There are allegations about officials who are taking the school children for a ride while going on trips abroad. Merry-go-rounds in the top seats in short, bungling for short gain. According to reports, no one knows what's happening at the Basketball Federations. The Sri Lanka Basketball Federation does not like what the Sri Lanka Amateur Amateur Federation does and it goes vice-versa. But, it is learned that they too are going abroad to take part in tournaments. Besides that even there are two official bodies even in women's cricket and at present one body is conducting an international tournament.

In Rugby too the story is pathetic. A game in which Sri Lanka did pretty well at one stage and could have been named as one of the more popular sports in the country have degenerated to a point where you get hardly a spectator watching the game. There was a stage that one had to go two hours before the CR-Havies match to get a vantage point if not you just have to bear with it in the middle of the huge crowd gathered. To add insult to injury, Sri Lanka was just dropped from the Hong-Kong International Rugby Sevens where Sri Lanka was a regular participant.

Above mentioned is the top of the iceberg, there are many other woes in these sports and the other sports not listed here. Mr. Minister, this may not be your bona fide, but, these are some of the problems that you will be saddled with and some of the problems that prevailed and may be quite aware of as you were there as the Junior Minister of sports a while ago. Solutions to these do not come easy.

But, they will have to be found. From 1994 every Sports Minister have promised that the existing Sports Law will be amended and nothing has been done so far. We hope that that this time it will be a different proposition. So, over to you Mr. Minister.

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