One of the glorious athletes in the country’s athletics history, Sugath Thilakaratne, will contest for the top post of the Athletics Association (AASL) this year, which is to be held on 14 May. He has been nominated by eight Associations for the AASL Presidency. Nominations for the post closed at 12.00 p.m. on 15 April (Wednesday).
Meanwhile, in a surprising move, Gampaha District Athletics Association have nominated Uva Province Chief Minister, Harin Fernando’s name for the presidency, while retired DIG Upali Kumarasiri too is in the running for the post, making it a three cornered battle for the top position.
Unlike the previous two occasions where Thilakaratne contested for the Vice Presidency and lost, this time he will find the support of many parties and administrators who will not be eligible to contest for the upcoming election due to the amendment of the sports law, which states any of the administrators’ who have served four years in a top post of a national sports association will not be eligible for re-election.
“I have received word from many in the field who have pledged their support, and hopefully, I will be able to do something good for the country’s athletics” an excited Thilakaratne said in reply to a query from Ceylon Today.
Asian championship 400m record holder and only athlete in the island to go under the 45 seconds mark in the event (44.61 seconds), has now got this opportunity because of the new law, as a number of top officials are out of the running, and said this will be a good learning opportunity about administering sports.
Thilakaratne sharing his thoughts about sports law and recent developments said:
“Ex-athletes like us get the chance to become administrators because of this law (new amendment); yet even people like us will be out of contention in four years, and if this continues further, ultimately there will be no one left to administer the sport.”
Thilakaratne was the glamour boy of 90s athletics where he has won a number of international medals, including Gold at the Asian Games, along with two Olympic participations (1996 and 2000) and four World championship participations. Yet he is most famous for beating world 400m record holder Michael Johnson at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics preliminary round, which made the world start to talk about the short sprinter from the island nation who surprised everyone at that race, including Johnson.
Meanwhile, according to a source, out of the two contestants vying for the Secretary’s post, Sunimal Rupasinghe, who represents Masters Athletics Association, will have a slight advantage over Palitha Jayathilake, who is a veteran athletics official as well as working as a teacher at Lyceum International School.
Nevertheless, all this is happening at a time where the International Olympic committee (IOC), FIFA and ICC are not in sync with new Sports Minister Navin Dissanayake, who has received letters from both IOC and FIFA with warnings of suspension, which will be a huge black mark for the country’s sports.
As for the letters, they clearly state that the country’s sports law and new amendment is in violation of autonomy of the Sports Associations, and hence, violation of the Olympic Movement.
In a letter to the ministry last week Patrick J. Hickey, IOC Delegate Member for Autonomy clearly stated the following:
“This unilateral action goes against the principles and rules of the Olympic Movement and our previous agreements.”
“Consequently, it is not acceptable and it is our duty to warn you that the international sports institutions concerned will not be able to recognize the results of elections orchestrated unilaterally by your ministry. In addition, should this happen, the international sports institutions concerned would be compelled to consider appropriate protective measures (including suspension), which unfortunately would considerably damage the representation of your country at international sports events.”
