Lack of fund forces Sri Lanka to withdraw from Asian Championship
Sri Lanka will not have its team at the next week’s Asian Squash Championship as the Ministry of Sports has burned out all its funds allocated for sponsorships, the Sunday Times learns.
An official of Sri Lanka Squash (SLS), speaking on anonymity, the ministry had indicated mild hopes initially that they will get to send a team of 10. It is entirely based on the hope that SLS had proceeded with trials and submitted the team for endorsement to the National Sports Selections Committee and the ministry.
However, in the last fortnight, SLS had been ‘verbally’ notified, citing dearth of funds, emanating from the economic crisis. The body, in turn, had officially written to the ministry that it is withdrawing from the event, that takes place in Cheongju, South Korea from October 31 to November 4, due to lack of funds.
Exactly a week ago, they had also officially notified the Asian Squash Federation on their inevitable absenteeism. The official rued saying, that the Asian Championship is one of the main competitions for them, and it is for the first time in the last 15 years, they have been forced to withdraw.
“Every year, this is the main event where we ask for funds from the ministry. We tried to get other sources of sponsorship, but with the situation, most are not willing to support”.
Amal Edirisooriya, Director General of Sports, confirmed and admitted to the Sunday Times, on the situation.
“Annually, we get around Rs.100 million. But for the remaining quarter, we have exhausted it all. We can allocate funds from the sports funds only. Now the problem is, there are only limited resources,” he revealed.
The cost was approximately estimated at
Rs.7 million, of which the air ticket is
Rs. 300,000 for an individual and the entry fee US$ 4,200 (SLR 1,566,666) for the team.