As per the conditions laid down by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Sri Lanka will amend the Sports Law and remove the restrictive regulations introduced this year in keeping with the Olympic Charter.
This was after IOC found that regulations introduced here are intrusive and restrictive and demanded in no uncertain terms that concrete measures are the only way forward if Sri Lanka is to keep its Olympic membership.
Sri Lanka was left with little option as it was a demand that could not be ignored and had they pompously refused to abide by the request, IOC would have slapped the country with a suspension and withdrawn our hosting rights of the 2017 Youth Asian Games, a bigger blow than taking a step back.
A team led by Sports Minister agreed to respect the Olympic Charter and thus to remove those intrusive clauses and amend others. This was done more of fear of the repercussion than the respect for the Olympic Charter as they believe the laws passed in Parliament are supreme and therefore cannot be questioned by third parties.
The outcome in Lausanne generated mix reactions. The Olympic Movement in Colombo issuing a letter to its affiliate members said it ‘was a victory for the Ministry of Sports, the NOC, IOC and above all, the sports loving public of our beautiful island nation’, while the ministry launched a scathing attack on NOC head Hemasiri Fernando for betraying the country by writing to the IOC on internal matters which they believe should have been sorted out at home.
In Parliament, using his privileges, Minister criticized Fernando, a government servant who has been controlling the apex sport body for 16-long-years and then two days later issued a press statement not only criticizing but also casting various allegations on Fernando, including his failure to adhere to good governance and corporate best practices when dealing with finances. Among them were amending the constitution without executive committee approval and procurement of airline tickets through a company which he has direct dealings with.
“This is not about the Sports Law. This is about Hemasiri Fernando wanting to continue in the same post indefinitely,” said minister Aluthgamage in an exclusive interview with Ceylon Today.
“If he was honest and acted purely on his love for the sports, he should have put the matter before his own executive committee to get their views before writing to the IOC. He has acted arbitrarily here and acted as a dictator,” minister charged.
No doubt that Fernando is feeling the brunt of leaving a position he has enjoyed for long years and even if it was the only reason why he requested IOC intervention, the outcome was a big respite to all national sports association as the Sports Law and the regulations truly discourage the volunteerism.
Fernando has previously admitted that he did write to the IOC explaining them of the intrusive regulations as it was his responsibility as the head of the organization without consulting the membership.
“The reason for me to send an official letter to the IOC six months ago was to inform them that the minister had used his powers to change a few regulations in an arbitrary manner to infringe the autonomy of sports associations,” Fernando wrote in an eight-page media statement.
The membership is now up in arms against Fernando accusing him of a dictator who had reigned with an iron fist in his hand.
But how did Fernando become a dictator? Isn’t the executive committee responsible for letting the man rule with an iron fist? What right do they have to criticize a man on whose mercy they had rode on for several years? And why did they wait for 16 long years to realize that they had blindly supported a dictatorship?
These are some of the questions that the public may ask in the face of the current impasse where everyone but Fernando seems culpable for everything.
“I am not blaming Fernando along as part of the blame lies with the executive committee,” the Minister said.
Fernando dismissed an allegation by the sports minister that the NOC had waited 40 years to complain to the IOC about the Sports Law 25 of 1973.
“The sports law was amended a few times during the past 40 years, but the autonomy of sports associations was not destroyed like this time. Hence, there was no necessity for the NOC to be concerned. However, the regulations introduced in January and August 2013 are so harmful that they had made it compulsory for most national associations to kneel in front of the sports minister for their existence,” he said.
Experts argue that the issue could have been avoided if the Ministry of Sports had formulated the new regulations as per an evidence based approached in consultation with all stakeholders including the IOC, for which Sri Lanka is bound to respect given its affiliation.
Sports Ministry said that they did consult all stakeholders before finalizing the draft and in fact the regulations were a result of a request by the national sports associations.
“This was the first request I had and after a long process we brought in new regulations that will improve governance and accountability,” the minister explained.
In fact there were consultations, with national sports associations, National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka (NOC) and all other stakeholders directly or indirectly involved with sports, but it is obvious that the ministry of sports had not taken their views into consideration in formulating the regulations.
If the views were considered and followed the accepted norms of the Olympic Charter, the IOC involvement is uncalled for.
Former Olympian and Asian Games high jump gold medalist Nagalingam Ethirveerasingam welcomed the decision by the Sports Ministry to revise the Sports Law saying ‘that was ill conceived at first and gave room for autocratic government interferences in sports.’
He also congratulated NOC chief to taking the fight and requested all national sports associations to corporate and demonstrates the Olympic spirit and Olympism.
Just like politics and sports are inseparable in this part of the world, corruption, nepotism and absence of good governance are trade mark of sports bodies. Therefore strong regulations are vital to ensure best corporate practices but should be in line with the Olympic Charter.
