By The Line Judge

When the National Sports Council (NSC) was formed two years ago with the inclusion of cricket legends Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, it was proclaimed that their priority would be amending Sri Lanka’s archaic Sports Act No 25 of 1973. The NSC and another sports minister, Namal Rajapaksa, have come and gone but chaos reigns in some national sports bodies which come under the jurisdiction of the Department of Sports Development (DSD), a branch of the sports ministry. Thenuka Widanagamage, who was the deputy to Rajapaksa before his resignation, has been elevated as the new sports minister but with the uncertain situation prevailing it remains to be seen how long he will survive.

“The Sports Law is now 47 years old. We need to overhaul it and bring it in line with international standards while not losing the local flavour.  We also need to look through the Olympic charter to ensure that we are not at odds with each other and to make sure that all associations are complying with it. We have to look at how sports bodies move forward financially, structurally, and operationally,” said Sangakkara at the time.

Enacted in 1973 by then Sports Minister K.B. Ratnayake, many have felt that the Sports Act is an outdated document. Apart from Harin Fernando who pushed forward legislation to make match-fixing in cricket a criminal offence, dozens of ministers have only paid lip service to the Sports Law of the country that conflicts with international organizations like the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and FIFA, the world body governing football.

“No doubt we need to change some of the intrusive and restrictive clauses in the sports law but I don’t think bringing a completely new law is the right thing to do,” said lawyer Panduka Keerthinanda.

In 2013, Sri Lanka agreed to review the sports law to make it compatible but there was little progress. The Sports Act has been amended thrice before. The Sports (Amendment) Act of 47 in 1993 introduced key legislation forcing all national sports associations to audit their annual accounts through the Government Auditor. Sports bodies, especially the National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka (NOCSL), have repeatedly asked for exemption from Government audits citing delays.

Section 30 and 33 of the sports law allow the sports minister to make interim arrangements for sports bodies in the event of any conflict. It is also ridiculous to see national teams requiring the approval of the minister when the selectors have been appointed by the minister himself. Among other proposals are fines for members of national sports bodies involved in malpractices, failure to implement policies of the ministry, failure to comply with the Sports Law, and setting up an independent sports tribunal to settle any sports-related disputes.

The ambiguity in the Sports Law has resulted in the chaotic situation affecting two leading sports bodies – Sri Lanka Rugby (SLR) and Football Sri Lanka (FSL). Rugby which had a parallel advisory body appointed by the former Sports Minister was temporarily suspended and is run by a Competent Authority (CA). Football has been directed to conduct the election of office-bearers after just a year before May 31. Apart from political interference, these two bodies face different issues altogether.

The ministry suspension is being contested by the SLR president Rizly Illyas, because no proper reason was given or inquiry conducted before the sudden takeover by the Director-General of DSD Amal Edirisooriya via a gazette notification that stunned sections of the rugby community. The NOCSL pulled their weight behind Illyas stating that the IOC and Olympic Council of Asia do not recognize any interim committee or interim arrangement. This was the position of World Rugby but Asia Rugby temporarily suspended SLR because of the confusion caused by the ministry announcement. Illyas stood his ground shouting from the rooftop that this action was illegal and threatened to go to court, refusing to grant access to the CA to banking information. He went to the extent of claiming there was a big conspiracy by vested interests behind his sacking as SLR president. The official reason given for the suspension was because SLR was holding meetings with suspended provincial council unions although SLR claims this issue was resolved.

The SLR ‘A’ division league tournament also came to a grinding halt during the weekend after the April 1 gazette though there were other reasons such as the unrest in the country. Asia Rugby has sent an official to discuss this with all stakeholders related to rugby including ‘A’ division clubs who have been sidelined from the decision-making process because of the Provincial Union system introduced in 1992. The CA who is tasked with calling the election of office-bearers would do well to address this anomaly by amending the SLR constitution to give founding clubs their due place and scrap the failed provincial system which has not developed the sport but only caused an administrative white elephant.

There is a tug-o-war in football between the FSL president Jaswar Umar and the sports ministry officials who insisted last year’s election was only for a one-year term although all stakeholders in the sport had wanted office-bearers to be elected for four years. The DSD had issued a directive that FSL should hold their annual general meeting to elect office-bearers before May 31, although Jaswar had got the approval of 53 leagues at an FSL Council meeting in Jaffna in February to extend his term of office by four years citing an amendment in their constitution and regulation in Sports Law.

“They have not seen this previous amendment or maybe it was not given to authorities to review or it was an oversight. But after the election was called (last year), the ministry said the process of changing to four years was not properly done. They pointed out errors in the amendment by the previous administration. When we showed (DSD) the approval we had, they were surprised to see all this. They did not have it in their records. Since there was a dispute they have to consult the AG’s (Attorney General) opinion which is a long process,” he explained.

The fault also lies with officials of the previous FSL administration and the incumbent for not amending their constitution in line with FIFA and AFC (Asian Football Confederation) statutes. Jaswar has requested time from the ministry to amend the constitution which has been sent to the relevant authorities for approval. “Since there is a timeline for this and calling for nominations, I have asked for about three months. Anyway, the last AGM was not held before May 31. It can be extended under the circumstances,” he said.

The key amendments to the constitution will contain separation of powers between, the executive, administration, and judicial. “Primary skeleton who is doing what and who has authority to do what. Responsibility and accountability are embedded,” he added.

There were alarm bells from some quarters that FSL would also be shown the red card by the ministry like the rugby body if elections are not held as scheduled. Another interim arrangement would spell disaster for the sport in the country. Hopefully, saner counsel will prevail and FSL will have committed officials who can work with long-term goals as a target.

-ENCL