We do need a change in National Sports too!
View(s):What beggars the question is that in spite of serious allegations, the people who are at the helm of the respected Olympic body remain in office, oblivious to the charges levelled against them. Common decency would require such officials to vacate these positions until investigations are complete and reinstatement are made, if any we are made to understand that the Attorney General’s (AG) advice is sought in the matter, so life goes on as usual.
Once allies, now in a bitter rivalry?, not a good sign for any NSA - File pic
These positions are honorary in nature but lucrative in practice. The annual jaunts alone are enough to compensate for the rigors of office and the constant politicking that takes place on a daily basis.
The Hon. Prime Minister is in-charge for now and the motley crew at the Ministry of Sports (MoS), has been allowed to carry on regardless of the fortunes or misfortunes that our sports have endured. The rambunctious ministers of sport over the last two administrations brought with them, their coterie of henchman whose attempt to run the business of National Sports Associations (NSAs) are well documented.
As if there are not enough bodies and souls in the MoS, it is standard practice to appoint a National Sports Council (NSC) presumably to advise (and cajole) the minister and his band of merry men. And so into this lineout comes a reputed national rugby player with outstanding credentials as a No.8 and skipper. If that amounts to his prowess as a capable administrator other than his dalliance in the apparel industry, is left to be seen.
This column has for long lamented the serious shortcomings in sports administration at a national level. Sportsmen and sportswomen are well aware of the bureaucratic nightmare that prevails. But the unwillingness to change with the times and merely maintain status quo does not auger well for the sport or its practitioners.
It is stated that there are over 80 sports bodies registered with the MoS. Are they all legitimate and what benefit it brings to the sportspersons within their fold and the country at large is a veritable question. For the initiators and officials of these bodies, the justification is clear; exposure to the wide world out there and their international patrons who must collect adequate affiliations to make their own case.
The government must call for a careful evaluation of our sports landscape. They must carefully assess what sports bear merit and classify them, so as to attach adequate resources for its development and eventual international renown.
Take cricket. There are several reports recommending a spate of reforms but the powerful Sri Lanka Cricket board supported by the ICC, prevents the changes required. As long as our lads perform as they have done in the recent past, the public goes silent and the temperature drops in tandem.
The same goes for football where a rampant and corrupt body prevailed at the behest of FIFA. Rugby is in the doldrums engineered to perfection by its own diehard scrummages that go on forever. Netball has its own unladylike battles to stay in office come what may. The athlete is left to rely on his or her own talent and resources, bar the well-endowed sports that are gloating at the other end of the spectrum.
What can be envisaged as a basic procedural reform is that all NSAs post their annual plans after scrutiny by the MoS, in a web-portal that ensures transparency. This template can be comprehensively designed to elicit all critical information including budgets and funding, so that quarterly or semi-annual evaluations of performance can be made by the MoS and the general public.
Accountability is thus ensured and adequate adjustments could be made to offer improvements when required. While NSAs are now allowed four-year terms, performance at the completion of two years can be placed in the public domain for comment and discourse. A people’s government will then make its judgement as to what must be done and the Minister of Sports need not sorely depend on the panjandrums who adorn the ivory towers of the Racecourse.
Only change is permanent, as we see in sports each day. Clinging to office till one is an octogenarian is not anymore an option. Today’s champion has no guarantee of a rostrum finish tomorrow. And so, those who manage our sports, must recognise the need that performance is the main, if not only criteria.
How that is achieved consistently demands knowledgeable and honourable administrators who can guide our sports bodies and their athletes. Let the winds of change blow, it can do no harm.