Athletic Association of Sri Lanka (AASL) will hold the election tomorrow (30th) to appoint the new committee which will govern athletics in Sri Lanka for the next two years.
The elections were postponed to the 30th of this month (May) due to the AASL not being able to submit the audit reports for the concluded financial years but has now been sorted according to the current secretary of the AASL Mr. Sunimal Perera Rupasinghe. Speaking to ThePapare.com he added that “The election will be held tomorrow although there were rumors about some parties getting an injunction order from the judiciary. However we have not been informed of anything regarding this officially and we have already made arrangements to hold the elections as planned at the AGM”
A total of 39 sporting bodies will be taking part in the elections and whoever manages to secure 59 votes will be named the president.
Two main factions have entered the fray for the top spots to run the Athletics in the country. Former President Maj. Gen Palitha Fernando will contest for the post of President alongside former Olympian and current president of the AASL Sugath Thilakarathne. Former Secretary and the veteran sports administrator Mr. Prema Pinnawela is billed to take the chair of the secretary as he is uncontested in his position.
We spoke to the two main contestants for the top post. Both contenders were confident of victory. Sugath Thilakarthne , The current president of the AASL said that “This is an election held with the people of Sri Lanka , I have received their support throughout and I am confident of their support in this election as well” Speaking to us further Mr. Thilakarathne added that after taking over the reigns as the president he has initiated many processes but certain factions were working against him to sabotage the plans. “I hope to execute the plans that we have laid during the past two years after winning this election, I will be focused on supplying our local coaches with foreign training as supplying the coaches with new technological is crucial for our athletes. For the athletes we will be supplying them with short term training stints abroad. Especially we will be continuing the training squads that we have implemented with the 2018 Asian Sports Festival as the primary focus.”
Maj Gen. Palitha Fernanmdo who has been tipped as a strong possibility to take over the top spot in the AASL by many has no doubt that he will be the clear winner of the elections. Speaking to ThePapare.com he asserted that “I will definitely win this election, there is no doubt and its certain. Certain parties have stooped so low and have started slinging mud at me but I will not fall to their level” when queried about the plans that he has for the running of the AASL he mentioned that “I have plans that I want to execute once I am elected as the president but I will not be publishing them as yet. I will be discussing them with the coaches and implementing them in due course.”
With both main contestants very confident about their victory the election will be fiercely contested and it will be interesting to see in whose hands the Sri Lankan Athletics will lie after the elections. Stay tuned to ThePapare.com as we will be bringing you updates on the AASL election tomorrow .
 will hold the election tomorrow (30th) to appoint the new committee which will govern athletics in Sri Lanka for the next two years.){kind=link}