Sports -

It seems that the Tourism Ministry has missed out on a literally golden opportunity. The tenth SAF games, begins on Friday. According to the Chairman of the National Olympic Committee Hemasiri Fernando, the potential for income through tourists has been overlooked. This is in stark contrast to the next major event to be held in Sri Lanka which is the Rugby Asiad.

Speaking to the Sunday Times Fernando said that all arrangements had been finalized. But he added that the organising committee had not got any assistance such as discounted accommodation from the Tourist Board or Ministry.

Other than for the hosts the countries that have confirmed their participation are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Male, Nepal and Pakistan who started arriving in the island from yesterday. These countries will compete in 20 sports ranging from Athletics to Karatedo. Fernando said that they aim to make this edition of the SAF Games one of the best if not the best ever. He added that there had been an increase of about 10 per cent in participation.

Sri Lanka has scored another first with these games. According to Milton Amarasinghe of the Sports Ministry secretarial work such as accreditation for media personnel and other such documentation has been done on line. This he said has reduced the SAF Games secretariat work by around 80 percent. With the assistance of Hsenid Software all the results will be displayed at every venue which also another first.

Coach of the Lankan athletic team Dervin Perera commenting on , his team was training both in the morning and evening. He said that they were targeting 15 Gold medals. Perera added that Captain of the team Susanthika Jayasinghe will be running in the sprint 100 metres. 200 metres and 100 metres relay. Damayanthi Dharsha would be running only in the 200 metres sprint event. Perera added that a lot was expected of high jumper Manjula Kumara. He said that Sugath Thillekeratne’s injury was improving and that he was in the squad for the 400 metres relay.

Nalin Attygalle who is in charge of the sponsorship committee said that originally the budget for the games was 200 million. But later it had been revised to 300 million rupees. According to Attygalle they were on track but some disgruntled officials had bad mouthed the Committee. This resulted in a couple of sponsors pulling out, including one who pledged five million rupees. Despite all this Attygalle was optimistic of meeting the target. “We are looking at bringing the cost down by a few million. The Committee and I are also working on a few more sponsorships which should come through before the games begin,” said Attygalle in conclusion.