(InternationalBoxingReferee)

We had some talented boxers who won medals for our country in the past and there are a few more who are capable of winning medals at international tournaments. Also we have a good administrative system at the moment. We also have very good sponsors coming forward to support the sport. However, we do not have a proper development plan to make progress. I think the boxers and the administrators need to make sacrifices if they are to achieve better results in the international arena. This is where we have lost our way. We won several Gold Medals, Silver Medals and Bronze Medals at the 1991 South Asian Games (SAG) held in Colombo. Thereafter, we had great success at the 1991 SAG in Kathmandu, Nepal. We were able to achieve these results because the boxers worked hard and trained for six months continuously. Now 18 years have passed and we are still struggling to win a Gold Medal at a SAG. This is a clear indication that we could march forward if we have a clear plan and work hard well in advance of the tournament. I think there are three ingredients that we need to focus on if we are to produce a champion boxer. The number one aspect is that we should have a good coach. We cannot think about winning a medal without the proper training and the technique. The second aspect is that we should have a good administration. There should be a proper development plan if any sport is to make any headway in the international scene. The third aspect which we should focus on is on a qualified referee. I think the future of any boxer depends on the judgment of a good referee. A bad decision could entirely ruin the career of a boxer. The coaches should take the blame for the drop in the standard of boxing in Sri Lanka in the recent past. This is because most of the coaches concentrate on the players and the clubs rather than focussing on the national level. I think if all coaches think in this way we will certainly have a very good future. We have seen in tournaments where the clubs use to field two teams namely their ‘A’ and ‘B’ teams for competition. We have seen the players who represent the ‘B’ team tend to knock-out their opponents without using the proper techniques. This is not a good sign for the sport. Also we do not have a boxing nursery. We should select a squad of players from Under-15 to 17 and train them for a period of four years. Then we will be able to produce good results during the next 10 years. We always tend to target the Commonwealth Games to win medals. But we all know that not all top countries compete in the Commonwealth Games. We need to target more on the Asian Games and the World Championships. I think the best administration in boxing was when Dian Gomes was the President of the ABA. There was a huge turnaround in the sport among the schools, clubs, private sector Police and the tri-forces. Anurudda Ratnayake (2008 Olympic Games direct participant) and Manju Wanniarachchi (2010 Commonwealth Games Medallist) are two good examples for the excellent administration during that period. We also have some very good boxing referees at the moment. We have included the boxing referees to three categories. They are first star, second star and third star. We have referees in all three categories. But we are lacking in the coaching department and we need to get down foreign coaches. We tend to get down coaches from Cuba. But we shoukd try to get down coaches from countries like Kazakhstan.