• Says majority of time spent fighting litigation 

Minister of Sports Sunil Kumara Gamage on Wednesday (20) informed Parliament, that the period allowed for administrators to serve in local sporting bodies, has been curtailed to eight years, with the intention of ushering a new sporting culture to Sri Lanka.

He said that following the ratification of the amendments introduced to the Sports Law by Parliament, it will forever impede those wishing to engage in acts of corruption and frauds, from vying for posts in such institutions.

He made these views during the debate on the amendments introduced to the Sports Law, No. 25 of 1973.

He remarked that the amendments to the Sports Law, has been drafted not with the aim of targeting any particular set of individuals serving currently in sports federations or with hatred towards any particular sport, but with the concerted goal to uplift sports in this country.

The minister, at the outset dismissed criticism directed at him by SJB MP Hesha Vithanage during the morning, where the latter had launched a tirade at the former, over his perceived delay to table the recently introduced amendments to the Sports Law in Parliament.

Gamage noted that the delay in tabling the amendments to the Sports Law in the House, was primarily due to having to seek input from legal professionals and experts, and not present it without getting to the nuts and bolts of it.

“We were never interested in doing a shoddy job, as far as amending the Sports Law is concerned,” the minister responded.

“MP Hesha (Vithanage) had stated that I had intentionally delayed submitting this Act to the Parliament. We had to examine several Gazettes that had been published since 1973, and we also needed time to seek input from legal luminaries and professionals in the sports sector, before introducing these amendments. That took a fair bit of time.”

The minister, currently sporting a shaven head, remarked that certain officials had occupied positions such as president, secretary and treasurer in various sporting associations for over 10, 15 to 25 years, even before the current regime had assumed power.

However, he vowed that such practices would be a thing of the past, once the new regulations introduced to the Sports Law are approved by Parliament.

Gamage also said that the amendments to the Sports Law has been introduced in a manner to depoliticise all sporting associations in the country, and added that under the watch of the NPP Government, the previous tradition of politicians helming such institutions will become history.

He lastly insisted that the intention of his ministry was to cleanse all sports institutions mired in corruption and nepotism, and explained that majority of his time since being sworn into office last November, had been spent to fight litigation filed against him by a few sports bodies.

He also mentioned that rugby was one such mass appeal sport that had been reduced to a rudderless ship for a long time and maintained that his ministry was currently striving to revive the dormant body, with the blessings from its global controlling institution – World Rugby (WR).