Maxwell banned from NOC for five years
The ruling, delivered through an official letter on Friday signed by NOCSL President Suresh Subramaniam, represents one of the most stringent penalties imposed on a high-ranking official in the committee’s history. The ban extends until May 2030, effectively removing de Silva from Sri Lanka’s Olympic administration landscape.
He came, he saw, but did Maxwell de Silva as the NOC Secretary General, manage to conquer?
“I must act in accordance with the conclusion/recommendation provided by the Ethics Committee pursuant to its Order dated 2nd May 2025, which have been approved and adopted by the Executive Board of the NOCSL. Therefore, I write to inform you that acting in pursuance of the said conclusion/recommendation/findings of the Ethics Committee, you are henceforth banned and restrained from functioning in any capacity whatsoever in the NOCSL for a period of five years from the date hereof (i.e., until May 2030),” Subramaniam stated in his letter to de Silva.
According to documents obtained by this newspaper, the NOCSL President filed three separate complaints against de Silva on August 21, 2024, which initiated formal inquiries by the Ethics Committee.
The Ethics Committee’s joint order, issued on May 2, 2025, determined that de Silva had “violated Article 10(a), 17(1) and (2) of the constitution of the NOCSL”. The committee was particularly critical of de Silva’s behaviour, noting that “being a senior official of the Olympic movement in Sri Lanka”, he “should have been much more aware of the provisions of his own constitution having been the Secretary for several years”.
The three-member Ethics Committee headed by Dinal Phillips PC and including Dr. Seevali Jayawickrema and Attorney-at-Law Ashen Stanislaus, recommended that “Mr. M. De Silva be banned and sanctions imposed, restraining him from functioning in any capacity whatsoever for a period of five years”.
The investigation highlighted several specific actions deemed inappropriate, including “condemning the former Ethics Committee, filing an action in the Court of Appeal against the current Ethics Committee, providing an incorrect address and attempting to get an ex parte order against this Committee, and failing to present himself at the inquiry without valid justification”.
The Ethics Committee characterised these actions as “conduct unbecoming of a person who should not hold office in an august body like the National Olympic body of Sri Lanka”.
According to the letter issued to de Silva, the NOCSL Executive Board, at its meeting on May 8, 2025, decided to adopt the Ethics Committee’s recommendations “in its entirety” in accordance with Clause 4.5 of the Committee’s Terms of Reference.
The decision has been communicated to key stakeholders in the Olympic movement, including Ms. Paquerette Zappelli, Chair of the IOC Ethics Committee; Debendranath Sarangi, Chairman of the OCA Ethics Committee; Jerome Poivey, Head of Institutional Relations and Governance at the IOC; the Secretary to the Ministry of Sports; the Director General of Sports; and all members of its Executive Board.
De Silva previously disregarded the Ethics Committee’s earlier recommendations for temporary suspension pending investigation into allegations of financial impropriety related to the 2016 Rio Olympics, as well as repeated requests from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) to step aside for an impartial inquiry.
With majority membership support behind him, de Silva attempted to force an early election to remove Subramaniam and maintain his position. This effort was thwarted when the Minister of Sports issued an order suspending de Silva, while the IOC rejected holding elections earlier than scheduled.
The Ethics Committee’s previous suspension request followed recommendations from a three-member committee appointed last year by former Sports Minister Harin Fernando. That investigation focused on alleged financial misconduct involving de Silva and former NOCSL President Hemasiri Fernando regarding the 2016 Rio Olympics.
The report also revealed that NOCSL violated regulations by sending six individuals to the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games without Sports Ministry approval. Among 176 travellers (170 approved and six unauthorised), 12 absconded during the event, damaging the country’s reputation. This group included individuals sent without proper authorisation.
NOCSL President Suresh Subramaniam had requested the Sports Minister to investigate allegations raised in parliament last year claiming that the NOCSL President and Secretary General fraudulently obtained travel funds and engaged in human smuggling when sending athletes to foreign competitions.
The committee was led by Sports Director General Dr. Shemal Fernando and included retired DIG Jagath Hemantha Fonseka and retired Deputy Auditor General NR Manel Dharmasiri.
Though Subramaniam now controls the Executive Board majority following resignations of Treasurer Gamini Jayasinghe, Vice President Suranjith Premadasa and Assistant Secretary Chandana Liyanage’s suspension, remnants of de Silva’s faction still dominate the NOC general membership, which disrupted two SGMs scheduled last month.
| IOC ends speculation on NOC constitution with clear clarification | |
| The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has officially clarified the status of Sri Lanka’s National Olympic Committee’s (NOC) constitution, ending speculation about the validity of the constitution passed in 2021. In a letter addressed to the NOC President Suresh Subramaiam, IOC Associate Director Jérôme Poivey confirmed that the committee’s most recently amended constitution from 2021 is indeed the valid governing document, despite lacking formal IOC approval. “It looks very clear that your NOC Constitution initially adopted by your NOC General Assembly in 2018 and approved by the IOC in 2018 was subsequently amended by your NOC General Assembly in 2019, 2020, and 2021,” Poivey stated in the communication. The confusion arose when a group of members representing the General Assembly challenged a recent Special General Meeting (SGM) held to fill certain vacant positions, questioning the validity of the amended constitution as it had not been approved by the IOC. Any challenges to the committee’s authority based on constitutional grounds now appear to be without merit, with Subramaniam retaining the wider powers granted to the President in the 2021 constitution, as opposed to the more limited presidential authority in the According to Article 29.3 of the NOC Constitution, any version “adopted by the General Assembly of the Committee shall replace and supersede any other previous Constitution of the Committee”. This provision means that despite the lack of formal IOC approval, the 2021 version has been the committee’s operational document since its adoption. However, the IOC has requested that the NOC formally submit the adapted 2021 Constitution to complete the approval process. This appears to be a formality, as the IOC has acknowledged that the document is already operational and publicly available on the NOC’s website. This development represents a significant setback for former Secretary General Maxwell de Silva’s supporters, who had questioned the constitution’s validity in what some see as an attempt to disrupt the organisation’s current leadership and reform efforts. The IOC maintains strict standards for NOC constitutions to ensure they comply with the Olympic Charter and principles of good governance. However, this case demonstrates that technical delays in approval processes do not necessarily invalidate properly enacted amendments by a national committee’s general assembly. |