- IOC and OCA watching like hawks
National Association of Canoeing and Kayaking in Sri Lanka (NACKSL) former President Prithiviraj Perera says that if Sri Lanka’s Olympic movement is to forge ahead, then it will have no other alternative but to clean up the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of its undesirable elements, forthwith.
He said if Sri Lanka strives for anything untoward, then the country will be suspended by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Olympic Committee of Asia (OCA) for having transgressed its regulations.
He said any violation of the Olympic Charter which all member nations are bound to adhere to, will ostracise Sri Lanka from global competitions.
“I think in the wake of the Maxwell de Silva saga, the Sports Ministry will need to clean up the mess at the NOC fast,” Perera, currently an Executive Committee member of the NACKSL, told The Daily Morning Sports.
“If they (Sports Ministry) fail to clean up the Augean Stables at the Olympic House, sooner than later, then I am afraid Sri Lanka could well stare at a suspension imposed by the IOC. The current status quo has to change there. And if that does nor happen, its ramifications could be felt far and wide and it will take months, if not years, to recover from such a scenario,” he explained.
He further said that he had spoken out during a Special General Meeting (SGM) of the NOC held on 13 December last year (2024), on the importance of cleaning up the image of the National Olympic Committee.
But, Perera, a veteran administrator in the canoeing and kayaking arena, regretted that the majority of those in the NOC Executive Committee, had sternly opposed his stance at the time.
He, however, was glad that the Sports Minister had intervened even at the eleventh hour, to suspend the long-serving NOC General Secretary from his post, till a probe into a range of allegations against the latter is concluded.
Prithiviraj Perera, whose sports body is a member association of the NOC, added that there were no provisions currently to expedite the election of office bearers to the NOC, till the current term of its officials expire on 31 December.
He stressed that any undue attempt to hold an Annual General Meeting (AGM), will only incur the wrath of the sport’s global governing body.
“Both the IOC and OCA, are currently closely monitoring akin to a hawk, the unfolding events linked to Maxwell (de Silva) in Sri Lanka,” he pointed out.
“They are aware of the suspension imposed on de Silva by the Sports Minister. Hence, any measures taken to bring forward an uncalled for election, will obviously not go down well with both those international sporting bodies and that will spell real doom for Sri Lanka. Therefore, I am confident that we should not be concerned about any hasty AGM, at this stage,” he said.
He emphasised that to date the Switzerland-based world body has not lifted the sanction imposed on the funds released to the National Olympic Committee last December, over the failure of the latter, to implement the recommendations of its Ethics Committee on de Silva.
The NOC Ethics Committee’s recommendations were based on an audit report compiled by a three-member probe team from the Sports Ministry, commissioned by former Minister Harin Fernando.
The ex-head of the NACKSL, observed that both the Sports Ministry and the current NOC Chairperson Suresh Subramanium needs the wholehearted support of the media, to root out all corrupt elements from the Olympic House.
He was of the opinion that it was not a task that could be fulfilled by the subject Minister or the head of the NOC, as it requires a combined effort.
Sports Minister Sunil Kumara Gamage, suspended the controversial former Secretary General of the NOC on 10 January and it is to be in effect, till the conclusion of inquiries into a litany of allegations, including financial misconduct against de Silva.