Is Sports MAFIA ruining school sports?

An investigation by the Daily Mirror reveals, it’s widespread at school level and needs urgent attention

Monday February 27, saw the end of the three-day International Schools Athletic Championship (ISAC) at the Mahinda Rajapaksa Stadium in Diyagama. Lyceum International School, Wattala won the overall championship but the meet had its fair share of controversy, mainly the bomb threat which was sent out to the schools prior to the meet which resulted in seven leading international schools withdrawing from the meet.

Upon investigating into the matter further we have come to an understanding that the sports mafia seems to have made their way into ISAC as well.

Over the years Interpol and criminal investigations have disclosed that the Mafia, exists in various forms throughout the world be it in the form of organised crime, gambling, drug trafficking, contract killings, prostitution and money laundering, just to name a few. The mafia first came into being in the 1800s in Sicily, Italy to fight law enforcement officers.

However, according to various criminal investigations units and Interpol, among the various types of mafias in the world, one particular mafia which is spreading at a rapid rate across the globe is the Mafia in Sports .

This has a strong presence here in Sri Lanka too. This revelation was made by present Cabinet Minister Mangala Samaraweera in 2001 at the Kurunegala National Sports Festival, while he was the Minister of Sports.

The announcement caused furore among athletes and sports fans but as to when the Sports Mafia came into being in Sri Lanka, is really anybody’s guess.

At the South Asian Federation (SAF) Games in 1991, it was disclosed that the Sports Mafia was very much active in the island. According to reliable sources, doping had been widespread during the Games but there were no testing procedure in place to net the culprits. This was exposed by a national newspaper then but the charges were dismissed by then Sports Minister Nanda Mathew.

The former Minister of Sports objected to it and even went to courts on the matter but it was withdrawn by the Minister himself, thus taking a step backwards and after the year 2000, the Ministry of Sports informed all sports associations to be aware of the prohibited drugs mafia.

At the 1995 Asian Senior Athletics Championships in Jakarta, Indonesia double Gold Medal winner Susanthika Jayasinghe’s urine samples tested positive for prohibited substances by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).

S. B. Dissanayake, the former Minister of Sports and Director General of the Sports Ministry Medical Unit late Dr. Geethanjana Mendis had repeated discussions with the IAAF. The team finally managed to have the issue withdrawn on the grounds that Jayasinghe had taken the drugs without her knowledge.

Commonwealth Games Gold Medallist weight-lifter Chinthana Vidanage was also found guilty of taking prohibited drugs while accusations were made against a number of athletes as well.

It has been unofficially revealed that these prohibited drugs were brought to Sri Lanka by a Sri Lankan athlete residing overseas.

The Sports Mafia has now spread its ugly tentacles into schools athletics, cricket, rugby, football, boxing and badminton, with players being absorbed into affluent schools, mainly in less affluent village schools with these athletes being absorbed into top level schools across the island.

The Sports Mafia is said to use sexual harassment of female athletes, cricket players and in the election of office bearers as well. In 1994, the Ministry of Education issued the 94/1 Circular to all principals stating that athletes from Grade Six to 13 intending to change schools, would not be permitted to participate in any school and/or national tournaments for a period of one year. With this order in progress, it is understood that an Ordinary Level student of St. Joseph’s College, Grandpass was absorbed into Lyceum International School, Wattala.

This talented athlete has performed well in the 100, 200 and 400 metres and was awaiting his Ordinary Level examinations results at the time (2016). Gateway Colombo petitioned that it was against all existing rules while also being against the 94/1 Circular regulations.

A petition was sent out to the Principal of Lyceum Wattala and an investigation was held by the ISAC committee. The investigations revealed that it was indeed against the existing law so the athlete was sidelined from the ISAC meet.

Brigadier Upali Bandaratilleke, Director of Sports, Gateway International, Colombo said that at the investigation it was proved that the wrong decision was made while, Palitha Jayatilleke, Director General, ISAC said in reply that the incident was resolved amicably. Investigations have now revealed that the tussle to rake in talented athletes has been going on for a long time, with coaches being highly involved in this mafia. It is also being speculated that when a talented athlete is brought in to an international school, the coach can benefit as much as Rs 50,000 per athlete while coaches make false promises to parents in order to switch athletes from one school to another.

The Sports Mafia has now spread its ugly tentacles into schools athletics, cricket, rugby, football, boxing and badminton, with players being absorbed into affluent schools, mainly in less affluent village schools with these athletes being absorbed into top level schools across the island

These situations have resulted in teams losing their top notch players thereby losing the strength within their team thereby falling into further dismay.

Due to these setbacks this year’s ISAC meet saw seven schools withdrawing from the meet. But it was claimed that that these schools withdrew from participation due to a bomb threat, which in reality was a hoax.

An inquiry by the , into the sports mafia was made from Sunil Jayaweera, Special Consultant, Ministry of Education. He said that the sports mafia exists in all government and private schools which is why a rule was implemented in 1994. However this rule is not being followed by most principals, he said. “What we can do is to hold an inquiry when and if a complaint comes. That is all we can do. If we are to stop it, old boys, parents and school development societies should oppose the principals. This is a mafia which exists in private and public schools,” concluded Jayaweera.

Lyceum Wattala was ahead of Gateway Colombo by two points, up until last year but this time’s ISAC meet saw Lyceum Wattala emerge champions with a gap of 559 points over second placed Gateway Colombo.