The Ministry of Sports has informed all provincial sports directors in writing that the 46th National Sports Festival, the main sports event organized by the Ministry of Sports, has been postponed indefinitely. Due to the prevailing situation in the country due to the COVID 19 pandemic, the National Games will not be held until November or December.
When ‘Lankadeepa’ inquired about this, the Director of Sports of the Ministry of Sports, I. P. Wijeratne said that the country is not stable enough to hold the National Games. Provincial sports directors have been informed that the Games have been postponed due to this reason, he added.
“We have decided to summon the nine provincial sports directors to take a decision on this matter. We will inform them tomorrow (27th). We also need to look at things like the possibility of directors coming to Colombo. You have to come from distant places like Jaffna. However we will discuss as soon as possible.”
“It was planned to finish the provincial tournaments before July 10th. But with the situation in the country no one has been able to take part.”
“The Minister of Sports has proposed to reduce the number of games and hold the tournament. We have also looked into that possibility.”
“Now we are preparing a new schedule for the National Games. We are planning to hold the Games later on at least.” Wijeratne added.
The finals of this year’s National Games were to be held in Colombo or Batticaloa in early September. The Games will be held in three stages this year, the Ministry of Sports said in January. The Ministry of Sports had planned to do so with a view to reducing costs. Accordingly, the first stage was to be held in Colombo while the second stage was to be held in Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa, however it is unclear if this this will be the case now.
It has been reported that the Divisional Secretariat, District and Provincial level competitions should be held before teams and sportsmen qualify for the National Sports Festival.
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