Should the ‘Aragalaya’ rethink our sports mindset?
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Crowds look on as ex-cricketer Dhammika Prasad, is engaging in a 24-hour protest seeking justice for the Easter Sunday Bombings- Pic: M.A.Pushpakumara
Our cricket icons joining the massive rallies over an entire week at Galle Face puts on notice all our sports bodies and the masters who run them from day to day. With the Minister of Sports ensconced in a safe abode for now, having relinquished his portfolio, the bureaucrats at Reid Avenue must be in a dilemma as to how to move forward. The empty coffers of the Treasury does not bode well for the international aspirations of our sportsmen and sportswomen with the Asian and Commonwealth Games just months away and tours of our cricket teams all but finalized!
Perhaps it is time to sync with reality and promote a proper perspective of our hopes and fears. With a country on its knees, the usual jaunt and search for medals as a symbol of achievement, is not the need of the hour. The Ministry of Sports (MOS) and the National Olympic Committee (NOC) must take stock of the situation and issue tough guidelines as to how we can circumvent this difficult period. Gone are the days of unwarranted pleasure trips where officials outweigh the athletes in outlandish contingents and post-mortems that dwell on what should have been done, only after the teams have returned empty-handed.
The High Performance Unit (HPU) supervised by the National Sports Council (NSC) has quickly abdicated following the Ministers exit and it is not a surprise that the athletes who were offered state grants (targeting medals) are now left high and dry. This would of course be a natural sequel in a nation where a tuk-tuk driver is given only Rs.1, 500 of fuel to earn his fares each day! So, what does this mean to all those sports people who have been in training, aspiring to represent the country and bring back the glory, we earnestly seek! It is a time for the mandarins at Race Course to put their heads together and agree on an appropriate action plan for the immediate future! Nothing less is good enough.
Take cricket! Do we need to bring in a foreign coach in Silverwood, when we have many experienced cricketing greats on the ground here and those of yesteryear, wallowing in the spectacle of IPL? Cannot these well experienced gentlemen put their collective talents together and support our current teams until the dark clouds pass by! Look at the fiasco of Rugby! While a valiant administration endeavored to seek sponsors and go about their business, a devious ministerial order conjured a typical feet-up to impose a suspension on the SLRFU. It is notable that the NOC and World Rugby is standing by the Union. Cannot the MOS rescind that order and at least, let the local tournaments take place? Savor another look at Football! An election is due and the usual deviations are being played out. Focus is on the World Cup bandwagon to Qatar and the usual circus that entails. Never mind, that Sri Lanka Football is ranked in the dumps and financial irregularities over the years, swept under the worn out carpets of Football House! Many other sports are beleaguered in this upside-down body politic that is the sports firmament in this country. The typical dysfunctional malady of our nation seems to naturally impacts on its national sports.
And so, the argument made is that we take stock and do what is sensible. Cut out the frills. Apply the rules. Manage the funds. Let only the very best go if they must, to represent the country. Take a hard look at the contingents. No need to make spurious numbers based on local trials, if international competition standards cannot be met. The powers that be must ask the big-wigs to take a break; the coach and his/her protégé can serve us well enough in these dire circumstances. One Chief-De-Mission can anchor the team. Let not our well known international default be aggravated by disgraceful performances that pile on the misery of a nation on its knees! We must do what is right at this hour. Not adorn the junkets and circuses, for which we are well known!