- Officials fail to facilitate journey to China
Minister of Youth affairs and Sports Sunil Kumara Gamage on Tuesday (2) formed a Working Task Force headed by retired DIG M.H. Marso, to investigate the alleged incident of levying Rs. 580.000 from 29 athletes by the Sri Lanka Karate-Do Federation (SLKF) and yet failing to ensure the team’s departure to China for a tournament due to start on Friday (5).
Minister's Media Secretary Tuan Nazeer said that the Minister acting under the powers vested in him under Sections 32 and 33 of the amended Sports Law No. 25 of 1973, temporarily suspended the registration of the SLKF via Gazette No. 2451/24 dated 27-08-2025.
This was confirmed to The Daily Morning Sports by him yesterday (3).
According to Nazeer, the cataclysmic failure of the officials from the SLKF, to facilitate the departure of the 29-member Sri Lankan contingent of athletes had risen due to not receiving their visas ahead of the flight leaving the airport at 2 p.m.
The athletes were originally scheduled to contest the 23rd Asian Cadet Junior U21 Karate Championship in Shaoguan, China from 5-7 September.
This was after the former administrators of the Karate-Do Federation, had reportedly levied a sum of Rs. 580.000 from the athletes to facilitate visa, air tickets and other requisite facilities.
By the time of the flight’s departure, visas had still not been issued, causing significant heartburn and distress for the group at the Katunayake International Airport, a source at the BIA said.
Nazeer said that the Working Task Force will also ensure the day-to-day operations of the SLKF till such time a report is submitted to the Minister on the alleged incident and upon which a decision would be taken on its future direction.
It has been reported that each participant was charged Rs. 580,000 by the Sri Lanka Karate-Do Federation to cover expenses such as air tickets, visas, and other logistics.
Despite assurances from Federation officials that visas would be granted by Tuesday morning, athletes were still advised to report to the airport.
However, the flight to China departed at 2 p.m. Tuesday without them, as the Federation failed to secure the necessary visas on time – shattering the athletes’ hopes.
When contacted the Sri Lanka Karate-Do Federation ex-Secretary Keerthi Basnayake stated that they had envisaged sending the athletes to China by 2 p.m. on Tuesday, but had been prevented from doing so due to unforeseen circumstances.
He said the Chinese authorities had sought a police report from the local contingent ahead of granting visas to the competitors.
Basnayake noted that failure to submit it on time had prevented the athletes from boarding their flight.
He added that due to the aforementioned reason their efforts to facilitate the journey of the young karate contestants to China had hit a roadblock.
However, he could not be drawn on whether his suspended federation would reimburse the sum of Rs. 16 million levied from the athletes or mete out any other form of justice to the aggrieved contestants.
The other members of the Working Task Force are, Niluka Karunaratne, R.M.L.N. Bandara, Upul Abewickrama and M.H. Ananda Kumara