By The Line Judge

COLOMBO – Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has put their shoulder to the wheel to help athletes achieve greater heights in the Olympics by offering financial assistance of Rs 40 million as sponsorship for the contingent to Tokyo next month. This was one of the first decisions taken by the SLC executive committee since Shammi Silva was re-elected president. Cricket is not an Olympic discipline but is a feature in the Asian Games.

“The (SLC) board has decided to support our athletes in every form and manner it can. The board has always believed in helping in the development of Olympic sports. In that spirit, we have decided to sponsor the team, which is participating in the Tokyo Olympics,” a top SLC official was reported as saying. “We thought that our small contribution will be helpful for the preparation and other contingency purposes of our elite athletes who have qualified for the Tokyo Games.” Notably, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) also pledged Rs 100 million for the country’s Tokyo Olympics-bound athletes.

The magnanimous gesture of SLC would have been welcomed by the sports ministry that is desperately keen to raise the profile of national sportsmen and women to make them professional in their outlook and performance. But the National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka (NOCSL) that is staunchly independent,  being answerable only to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), did not take this offer kindly and virtually rapped SLC for their unsolicited largesse.

“The NOCSL has no intention to get any help or donation from either SLC or any other sports bodies. On such matters, the NOCSL only deals with the International Olympic Committee, the sports ministry and the corporate sector. We do not depend on any local sports governing bodies and we work with our available resources generated from our sponsors. We would be much obliged if SLC could help the other federations in Sri Lanka so that sports as a whole would improve simultaneously,” stated NOCSL president Suresh Subramaniam.

Coming on the heels of the sports minister’s announcement that the Sri Lanka Olympians will be receiving a grant of US$ 10,000 (Rs 2 million) each for merely participating in the Tokyo Games, there seems to be something amiss. “We have decided to grant an allowance of US$ 10,000 for each Olympian with a further sum of US$ 40 as a daily allowance,” Minister Namal Rajapaksa was reported as saying. “We have also decided to grant an allowance of US $5,000 for each coach in addition to a sum of US$ 40 as a daily allowance,” he added.

“This is the first time that we have decided to reward the Olympians financially while recognizing their high value and dedication to the sport. Obtaining Olympic qualification is the greatest achievement for an athlete and we want to value their performances in this way,” the minister explained.

At a time when the minister insists on performance-based contracts for cricketers, it smacks of double standards. What message are we sending to athletes, most of who will be in Tokyo by invitation, when they are given financial perks before achieving anything at the Olympics? What is their ‘motivation’ to perform beyond expectations at the Olympics? Aren’t we sending them on a joy ride to Japan? By merely ensuring that the athletes and officials travel on business class, will it bring home medals?

We are not grudging about the Olympians receiving financial assistance but the sports ministry seems to have got its priorities mixed up or seem blind to the fact that only Mathilda Karlsson has really ‘qualified’ in the sport of equestrian. Two athletes Nilani Ratnayake (3,000m steeplechase) and Yupun Abeykoon (100m) are also on the brink of qualification according to the ranking points achieved in the ‘Road to Tokyo’, unless their position changes on June 29 – the last date to achieve qualification by attaining the Olympic standard or by accumulating points. The rest of the contingent are ‘wild card’ entries or by invitation either through Tripartite (NOCSL, International Federation and IOC) or Universality Places. In fact, with less than a month to go for the start of the July 23-August 8 global sports extravaganza, delayed by a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sri Lankans still don’t know who their Olympic athletes are for Tokyo. Apart from Karlsson, the confirmed entries so far are shooter Tehani Egodawela, gymnast Milka Gehani de Silva and two-time Olympian shuttler Niluka Karunaratne. World swimming body FINA would be confirming the places of Matthew Abeysinghe and Aniqah Gaffoor on July 2. NOCSL announced earlier they would be sending a “strong contingent of eight” which could be increased to 10 or 11 participants if the two athletes ‘qualify’ while the NOCSL is hoping to get wild cards for judo and archery.

Although authorities are aware that the multi-sports events like the Olympics are held once every four years, very little planning or preparation has been in the build-up for the Tokyo Games. The postponement of the Games by a year may have come as a blessing in disguise for some, but Sri Lanka seems to have missed the bus since athletes are still scrambling to make the cut by participating in an Inter-State meeting in India this week. Delays in getting visas prevented them from competing in a tournament in Kazakhstan last week.

A former national sprinter said because of COVID-19 and the lack of international competition, this was the best chance Sri Lanka had to send a huge team with qualification for the Olympics. “We could have sent at least five athletes for the Games. Simply you don’t have to wait till the last week. They could have done something at least a few months ago,” he said. The NOCSL chief also lambasted Sri Lanka Athletics for not doing enough to help them achieve the qualification. As a result, US-based high jumper Ushan Thiwanka Perera who fell agonizingly short of Olympic qualification by 0.3 centimetres may not be on the flight to Tokyo although his winning leap of 2.30m at the Lone Star Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships, in Texas was the third-best performance this season.

Participation in the Olympics is the biggest dream of athletes. “No matter how many medals you have won or how many competitions you have been if you have been to the Olympics that’s the best thing an athlete can have in his entire career. That is the huge motivation every single athlete can have,” said the Commonwealth Youth Games medallist.

Sri Lanka should be gearing up to win medals at next year’s Asian Games from now itself instead of waking up closer to the event.

-ENCL