National Olympic Committee (NOC) will play their final trump card to Asian Olympic Council (AOC) on June 30 to keep the hosting right of the 3rd Asian Youth Games 2017 which is scheduled to be held in Hambantota.
“What we can do now is we will be planning to shift 2/3rd of the sports disciplines of the Games to Colombo and keep 1/3rd in Hambantota. That way we will be able to develop and build the necessary stadiums and facilities within the given time frame,” said Hemasiri Fernando, President of NOC.
“We need at least four training venues in contrast to one competition venue and if we are going to build that in Hambantota it is impossible,” added Fernando.
Foreign media has already reported that the said Games will be shifting to Indonesia if preparations in Sri Lanka fall short of the time frame.
Preparations in Sri Lanka were under the radar of the Asian Olympic Council where they made several allegations about lack of facilities which could lead to loosing the hosting rights to Sri Lanka.
“Last time when the Asian Olympic Council held a meeting I had to explain to them about the Army and Navy personnel in Sri Lanka being professionals in engineering and are capable of building facilities rapidly and within the time frame,” said Fernando.
“I also emphasized to them that Sri Lanka will not have any financial problems as the President of Sri Lanka is also the minister of finance and wanted to host this Games as a priority,” added Fernando.
After all these explanations the AOC has given three months time to show the progress made in preparations for the Games. The representatives from the AOC will arrive on June 30 to inspect the sites before a final decision is made about the hosting rights for Sri Lanka.
“We will show them facilities we have in Colombo which can be modified quickly. As well as the development we have done in Colombo within a short period time to show our capabilities. Thereafter it is in their hands,” said Fernando.
Fernando assured that Sri Lanka will not be facing any kind of ban or any other issues if they lose the hosting rights.
