Gazette notification clips sports officials’ wings 

A Gazette notification issued by the Ministry of Sports has ended the careers of many ambitious sports administrators. Several of these officials had been holding onto positions for decades denying young blood and new thinking coming in and they now will have to call it a day. Friday’s notification means, all veteran administrators have to vacate their seats.

Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe is unlikely to get an invitation for a Christmas meal by most of these top officials at sports bodies but overall, among the public and the sports bodies in general he will be hailed a hero for breaking the monopoly of a handful.

Some officials have held positions in sports bodies for decades while the sport has made little progress and although there have been calls for fresh thinking to come in, it is next to impossible to defeat these individuals at elections as they have mastered the art of winning elections.

Although the new regulations will affect all sports bodies some observers wondered whether this was done targeting Sri Lanka Cricket. A few hours after SLC had announced an election commission to conduct their Annual General Meeting where officials get elected, the Sports Ministry announced for a media briefing the following morning and a few hours later the gazette was made public.

Accordingly, any person who has held office as President of a sports body for four years (two terms) will become ineligible to hold office for a third term. Although that person can hold any other position other than President in the sports body if he had served that association, federation or board in any other capacity for a period of four more years, totaling to eight years of service to the sport, he will become ineligible to hold any position.

Furthermore, any official who has served a sports body for eight years in any capacity becomes ineligible to serve furthermore. Cricket in particular faces an overhaul change following the Ministerial directive and the entire Executive Committee could comprise of several new faces.

SLC sources told Sunday Island that they will take legal action against the new directive. However, the Sports Ministry is expected to counter this move by informing the officials that the sports bodies funds can not be used to fight these battles legally.

Former Trinity College cricketer Samantha Dondanwala, a stalwart of SSC, although is not much known publicly, his popularity has been rising in cricket circles after being put in charge of some key operations in cricket. He could go onto become a surprise Presidential candidate of SLC at the next AGM.

There was also talk of an Interim Committee being put in place for a two-year period until a new constitution is drafted.

The Appeal Court last week gave a directive to the Sports Ministry to introduce constitutional changes to SLC constitution. This was after several prominent stakeholders of the sport petitioned the court stating that cricket’s governing body had failed to move on with times.

Currently the Sports Ministry is conducting a probe into breach of discipline by players during the recent World Cup. Top order batsman Danushka Gunathilaka was arrested in Sydney and was charged with sexual assault while a few other members of the team also had come under the spotlight for their conduct. A committee to introduce changes to the constitution will be appointed early next month once the probe is over.