• Prez urged to form committee to probe 

The Colombo District Wrestling Federation Deputy Secretary H. M. Lakshman, submitting a letter to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has drawn his attention to a report compiled by the National Audit Office (NAO) in October, linked to alleged misappropriation of a sum of Rs. 20 million by the Wrestling Federation of Sri Lanka (WFSL).

Through his letter Lakshman has stated that the report filed by the NAO has pointed to the alleged misappropriation of the said sum, which had been provided to officials of the Wrestling Federation of Sri Lanka (WFSL), by the Department of Sports Development affiliated to the Sports Ministry for the nutrition of wrestlers in 2024.

Lakshman has said that as per the report released by the National Audit Office, the said amount which had been released according to existing regulations and in a transparent manner, had been allegedly misappropriated by certain officials of the Wrestling Federation.

He has charged that these officials of the WFSL had surreptitiously compiled a list of their own and had proceeded to provide the nutrition amount to wrestlers of their choice, which he deems is a punishable offence as per the law and sports regulations.

According to the Deputy Secretary of the Colombo District Wrestling Federation, there has also been serious doubts raised as to whether the sum in question had been handed over to the athletes concerned, as per the report released by the Audit Office.

Lakshman in his letter to the President has mentioned that in order to supervise the utilisation of the amount handed over to the WFSL by the Department of Sports Development, its Project Officer for Wrestling Sisira Wellegedara has been appointed.

He has stated that there is strong suspicion in wrestling circles, that the officer in question in addition to his alleged dereliction of duty, has also aided and abetted committing a serious financial fraud, while tarnishing the image of the Sports Ministry via his actions.

Furthermore, the Deputy Secretary has stressed in his letter to President Dissanayake, that the report filed by the NAO has pointed to a further misappropriation of a sum of Rs. 4.4 million, which has been siphoned off to outsiders instead of the athletes concerned, thereby committing an act of grave financial fraud.

Lakshman has added that though he had made an official request as per the RTI Act to ascertain the truth regarding those who had obtained the said amount and those who had released it to outsiders, those in the Department of Sports Development had failed to comply.

Therefore, the Deputy Secretary of the Colombo District Wrestling Federation has urged the President to form an independent committee to probe the alleged incident, and bring those accountable for their fraudulent acts before the law, so as to deter others from committing similar acts in the future.

Efforts made to contact officials from the Sri Lanka Wrestling Federation to seek their views on the issue drew a blank.