Ceylon Today Editorial

Go minister Go!

26 November 2016

The recent issues that the Minister of Sports had with the Secretary of the National Olympic Committee have given quite an insight to happenings regarding cravings of people for overseas trips. It is very clear now most of the authorities in sports associations get into those positions with ulterior motives and one, of the most desired privileges, is foreign travel.

The parties concerned with the process looked quite a bunch of amateurs and immature in this instance acting on such a simple matter of sending two athletes to a training workshop. More than their being pleased with the offer of the training for these two beach volleyball players and the experience they would gain from it, not forfeiting the sending of the coach involved with these players would have been important. This trip would have helped gaining from the training along with the acclimatizing but instead, the immediate response of the Secretary AASL looked one to be securing his position first of all.

Holding a position in a sports organization in a country that has a long history with sports and its operations, his thinking, instead of taking it as his privilege, he should have been more responsible in his action. The fact of, beach volleyball being a new sport, coming in lately to the main stream, itself should have alerted the Secretary to be mindful. He should have been aware of the importance of the proper people making it to Australia where the Commonwealth Games event would finally be taking place.

Here, the thing to be learnt is the fact what these irresponsible official's actions indicate. To someone who has been following the patterns of operations between the authorities of the NOC and Sports Associations, these have a long history of bindings. The fact the NOC secretary telling off the two players and their coach to get it done by politicians as he was not prepared to follow such orders, clearly makes the point how power has been in operation in those realms. Earlier ministers would have been enticed to play ball with these officials but this minister shows he is made of other stuff.

This type of thing would have been quite prevalent and the reaction here with this incident shows things were swept under the carpet in the past, easily. Remember the NOC President getting tough with a telling off of the Sri Lanka captain of the national Olympic team just before taking off to Rio. There was no action taken. There have not been tough issues where the athletes were able to gain from complaining.

At the meeting where the minister faced the media with the President of the NOC, statements made by him were prompted to be scrutinized, with the minister keeping on inciting the pressmen on this. The NOC President guessed where he was being taken and opted out with his sudden departure, jokingly indicating that he was irresponsible. The minister should play their own game better with such officials who had the situation captured to have everything going their way and no other, making certain they got everything covered. They had all those from associations, media and where it mattered at their beck and call. We have in the past seen it happening but this minister is lucky as those that matter at the helm are interested in clearing up the mess that had been heaped on sports from the past rulers.

As we see it, the minister patiently did allow the authorities to play the game their way. He waited patiently to reach conclusions with understanding, not getting all excited as did the bull in the China shop. It is patience that is going to work if the minister is going to clean the slate. This slate has not seen the duster for ages, and when it clears up, much more messy things from the past may begin arising as happens with proper meditating.

When looking at what is going on at present in Singapore one can notice the improvement that has taken place in sports there. They already have pocketed one gold medal at the Olympics. Their football is improving and they know the value sports add on to a country. The minister only has to have that clean slate to start things anew, for things to work out just the way this country deserves its sports to get the limelight it has been missing for centuries. We see this minister to have proper thoughts and may end up as the man not only to clean the mess but give fillip to a deserving and justifiable cause.