• No leniency for doping offenders from Sugath 

Sports Minister Sunil Kumara Gamage, making the concluding speech on the third reading of the 2025 Budget Proposals linked to the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports on Tuesday (18) said that his ministry will never intervene in the election of office bearers of any sports institution.

He said that instead what his ministry will do is to work towards the betterment of sportsmen and women while developing the overall sports sphere.

He stated that the NPP Government policy will not allow the sports firmament to be politicised as has been the case under previous regimes.

He noted that if there are any festering and long-standing issues that need resolution, they will address those without interfering in internal activities of such sports associations.

The minister was of the view that the bane of local sports over a long period has been internal power struggles among officials of certain sports bodies, and observed that without resolving such issues it would be impossible to look for a bright future in the sports firmament.

“There are 74 registered sports bodies within my ministry, but the success of those institutions are not reliant on the sportsmen and women but solely on the officials who are holding onto positions at those institutions. There are never ending power struggles between officials for posts of President and Secretary and this is the real sad situation that our sports sector is beset with,” he said.

Gamage remarked that currently, four sports associations connected to rugby, netball, motor racing, and cycling are in limbo after being suspended by his predecessor last May.

He emphasised that his Ministry was striving to get the suspensions lifted and return those institutions back to their rightful owners via elections sooner than later.

The minister also rejected the allegations levelled at his ministry by SLPP MP Namal Rajapaksa who was critical of the current pathetic state of food and lodging provided to sportsmen and women at the Sports Ministry hostel.

He insisted that though the ministry dome and hostel may have been in such a deteriorating state during the time of the previous governments, it was not the case anymore.

He pointed out that Deputy Minister of Sports Ex-Olympian Sugath Thillakaratne has been tasked with looking into the wellbeing of those being put up there.

In his initial remarks to the House in the morning, the Sports Minister disclosed that Sri Lanka was still continuing to pay a significant amount in lieu of the fine imposed by World Rugby then known as IRB (International Rugby Board) following a controversial incident that had taken place 11 years ago.

Gamage mentioned that the Sports Ministry has been paying a fine of 5000 Sterling Pounds annually as a result of the involvement of three Fijian players in a rugby match in 2014.

He said the three Fijians had been brought down to Colombo to represent the country’s national rugby team in an effort to secure victory.

The minister told the Legislature that when the sport’s global governing body had become aware of this controversial incident a few years later, they had slapped a fine of 50000 Sterling Pounds on the island-nation, which Gamage stated that they were yet continuing to pay.

Meanwhile, Deputy Sports Minister Sugath Thillakaratne, during his speech said stern action will be instituted against any sportsman or woman who resorts to doping and warned that no leniency will be shown to such individuals if found guilty of offences.

He added that as a former Olympian he will be personally keeping close tabs on those who flout such laws and said that with enhanced technology there was no possibility for offenders to avoid being caught if they resort to such actions.

He also vowed to conduct workshops and seminars for sportsmen and women with the help of foreign coaches to further enhance their knowledge on the perils of doping.