Almost a month after a despised government was given marching orders by a popular people’s vote and an anti-corruption regime installed, the country still awaits the changes in a set-up where cheating, dishonesty, nepotism, power and position-abuse and exploitation for self gain have flourished.
New Sports Minister Sunil Gamage made no secret of the abuse and corruption taking place in sport but stopped short of fielding questions or spelling out his plans for a clean-up or a “take-over” from his former firebrand predecessor Roshan Ranasinghe who came within striking distance of wiping out corruption once and for all.
While giving hope to anti-corruption crusaders, Minister Gamage claimed the writing was on the wall for the corrupt after his government received an unprecedented mandate and is now beholden to the people to rid the country and sport of exploitation that has reached alarming levels.
“We have a responsibility by the people who voted for us and there will be no room for corruption. Everything has to be dealt with at official level and there will be no need to meet individuals on a personal level”, said Minister Gamage as he addressed sports officials at a forum.
Never before has the administration of sports in Sri Lanka being subjected to exploitation and what the media and the people have seen is just the tip of the iceberg with much more taking place behind closed doors.
After cricket and rugby, the governance of Olympic sports in the country has been virtually torn down to the extent that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) had to step in and call for the National Olympic Committee’s (NOC) secretary Maxwell de Silva to step aside in keeping with a ruling made by its (NOC) Ethics Committee.
While countries that have been devastated by world wars and international transgressions continue to win Olympic medals, Sri Lanka has virtually nothing to brag about other than one medal in 75 years while the custodians at the NOC bask in all their glory.
The syndrome in sports governance in Sri Lanka is that its administrations shift from one monopolised group to another as if it is their private fiefdom as is happening in cricket, rugby, football, track and field sports and motor racing that claimed the lives of eight people at an event in April this year.
The irony is that while retired sporting icons call the shots in countries that boast of successful results, in Sri Lanka not a single member of the 1996 World Cup winning cricket team plays a part while the country’s only successful Olympian in 75 years, Susanthika Jayasinghe is unheard.
Not a single member of some of Sri Lanka’s most successful rugby teams sits behind a desk these days or meets journalists while nothing positive can be written about the governance of football in the country.
As the country now waits for the clean-up and the ouster of misfits and corrupt elements running sports, it can only be hoped that the newest Sports Minister will not join the list of Keepers who merely entered and moved on.
