CoPA takes the mickey out of MoS; ignorance is bliss, was blatantly on show
Our best athletes have copped out of the Asian Games. Our cricket team has been decimated in the Asia Cup, even as Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) is indulging in a charity spree to make amends it appears, the national rugby team made its way to Hangzhou with its stepmother and the football clan has been sniffing at the elections, which is now done and dusted. So, one may legitimately ask the question, what does the Ministry of Sports (MoS) do about all this?
The Sports Minister from the inception of his stewardship, has run a crusade targeting corruption in sport. That in itself may be considered a noble task. However, what media reports recently depicted so transparently was the abject incapability of his executive team in matching the intentions of the minister. What was more glaringly for all to see, was the absolute ignorance and inefficiency of the MoS management team. There is little doubt that the MoS lives in the dark ages and modern management practices are as alien to them as the hockey infrastructure they were supposed to develop, right on its very doorstep.
Just consider the following snippets from the enquiry conducted by the Committee on Public Account (CoPA) Chairman, Lasantha Alagiyawanne from principal officers of the MoS.
Regarding development projects from 2015 onwards, it was reported that only 18 projects were completed but not put into use as yet. The panel requested the Secretary to submit a Project Management Chart so that recommendations could be made to parliament which authorises funds. What can be completed and then utilised was the key question. The floodlit hockey Astro Turf was a case in point.
A query on the standard of sports in comparison with other South Asian nations, left the officials bemused. When a report was not easily forthcoming, the Chairman remarked that this Ministry or Department was one of the weakest public institutions in the country.
Closer examination by the panel revealed that there were 73 sports registered with the MoS. These sports were classified into ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’ based on their overall performance, especially the medals tally derived by these national sports bodies. But the information was not easily forthcoming. The panel focused on the achievements of the various sports, especially athletics in trying to glean as to how assessments needed to be done.
The Chairman was insistent on understanding the process that the MoS utilises in assessing and preparing for representation at international events. The cost benefit of such investments he felt was an important question. It was revealed that the MoS annual budget estimate for 2023 was Rs.9.9B. Of that sum, it was indicated that only 75 percent was used for sports development; this is the area of work that benefits athletes directly. So, it’s a question that the Auditor General’s (AG) office looks at very clinically.
When asked if District Sports Councils have been instituted, there resulted a grave silence. State Minister Diana Gamage said that most of the officials are ignorant. She stated that there were many issues that needed to be solved. She suggested that the officials be summoned again on another date. An Additional Secretary explained that the MoS was following up and as at now three districts, namely Monaragala, Matale and Kurunuegala were being finalised. State Minister Diana Gamage observed that the ministry officials appeared to be were very lethargic.
It was stated that Rs.500M was allocated to ‘Infrastructure Development’ but the official in charge of the subject spoke of his frustration in implementing tender awards for sports equipment. Response from the MoS Finance Department was that funds were withheld, as progress reports were not submitted.
State Minister Gamage enquired as to what was the national sport. Once again dead silence prevailed. Some intoned that it was volleyball but the question, ‘who decides, what is the process’, left many amused.
The Chairman informed the MoS delegation that a follow-up meeting was fixed for October 20 and requested all officials to come prepared. An AG report was available as a reference with ample recommendations. He suggested that an integration between Education and Sports, as done in the past, was vital. How the physical stature of a young athlete is developed is now a science. He advised all present to devote more resources to Sports Development, taking a practical approach with the young athlete at heart. He stated that they could not address the role and efficacy of national sports federations as well as the National Olympic Committee (NOC), which he hoped to take up in future. He enquired whether Sports Coordinating Offices have been appointed and stated that it will be good to have them present when they met again.
The entire session was shambolic. Many, who are privy to the session, felt that the Sports Minister should call for an immediate resignation of his top team as they were caught with their running shorts down. The Director of Sports (what else he does, we don’t know) was clearly out of form with the Chief Executive, the MoS Secretary, caught napping in cuckoo land.
This is not to belittle these honourable people, but to underline the grave responsibilities that devolve on them. These are not grandiose positions of power where you are expected to stargaze and then expect a passionate athlete to win gold, purely on a homegrown talent and a dedicated coach in the village. These are matters that must bear cognizance of every official at the MoS. We all know that these are far-fetched expectations from the hallowed ivory towers at Reid Avenue, where national athletes and their handlers, have to linger for hours on end, to see these people who run the MoS.
There is talk about an impending cabinet reshuffle. Perhaps Havana and the UN might give our President some inspiration as to what needs to be done. The malady witnessed in the CoPA enquiry is obviously not limited to that venerated edifice. Many ministries run the gauntlet with pristine indifference, as we have seen in the health sector in the recent past.
But that is another story. Accountability as aptly demonstrated by the CoPA action is what is sorely needed at this hour and all citizens must surely admire and encourage such latitude by these regulatory bodies, if Sri Lanka is to turn the corner and forge ahead.
This brings us to another sports body, which is run by relics of the past. The merry-go-round of office and the power games played by the NOC only augments the pathetic dysfunction of the MoS. The antics of the NOC Secretary General in Bangkok, gives us a glimpse of what transpires in the sports ecosystem.
So, while we wait for the investigations to reveal, what took place in that much hyped city, the martinet continues to hold sway over the establishment and assign his loyalists to safeguard the well kept secrets of the premier Olympic Body in this country.
For long, we have advocated that the MoS and the NOC must work in tandem. But that does not suit either party. What both do very well, is to come out singing alleluias when a major achievement takes place, but do little to chart its course. Going to the Bandaranaike International Airport to garland athletes is a nice media opportunity, but to nurture our sportspersons, knowing their prowess and understanding their potential, is left to National Associations, whose performance itself is not closely overseen. Except, where it suits, the MoS and the National Sports Council (NSC), who target the affluent sports bodies for their own ulterior motives.
The sports world in the universe is moving on. New stars are born and new standards are being created, as the sun sets each day. Modern techniques are a never ceasing pursuit in international sports. Thus, if there is a need for a MoS, it must fulfill the demands of modern sports. Not simply provide a bureaucratic maze in which a sportsperson loses his or her way. Ignorance is bliss for the vain hearted. Glamour is the arena for such despots. Hard work and a singular commitment to a discipline is paramount if our sports (like any other sector) must rise like a phoenix from the ashes and take our due place in the League of Nations.