Money will make the world go around for Sri Lanka sports

Abig bouquet to the Sri Lanka Sports Ministry which will spend Rs 300 million over the next two years to fund athletes in 14 different sports so that they can prepare for major international games without the distraction of an empty pocket.

The romantics among us might believe that it is love that makes the world go around but the reality is it is money which will bring peace and harmony into one’s life.

Those people who say ‘money isn’t everything’ are usually the one’s who don’t have to count the days until the salary is in the bank, but for most of us money is important and the decision by Minister of Sports Mahinda Aluthgamage to allocate this princely sum is worth a huge round of applause.

It is probably the first time that a government has given funds to so many different sports with one of the main differences being that the focus is on the athletes themselves.

As Aluthgamage pointed out to this paper last Sunday, the government in the past had focused on funding infrastructure costs “but now it is time to look at the athletes and help the sports that are on the upward trend”.

As everyone in today’s world of technology knows, there is no point in only having the hardware if the software is obsolete. With the basic infrastructure in place in Sri Lanka, the hardware is up-andrunning. Now it is time for the software, athletes, to be re-booted so to speak.

The 14 sports identified are athletics, archery, badminton, boxing, beach volleyball, football, judo, netball, rowing, rugby, table tennis, swimming, shooting and weightlifting.

How it will apparently work is that each sport will be allocated a sum which will go to paying its athletes – I presume the elite national squad and those just below – a monthly retainer.

Rugby which was picked out by the minister as an example will get a grant of Rs 25 million in this first year with each member of the national pool getting a monthly income of Rs.50,000.

While it will by no means allow the athlete to live a life of luxury, it will be most welcome and for many, will lift some part of their daily burden from their shoulders.

The Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union has contracted 42 players and now each of them will get this guaranteed sum. Asanga Seneviratne, SLRFU president, hit the nail on the head when he was quoted saying: “It is not easy to play a body contact sport and not to be financially stable”.

This is the crux of the matter. If your focus is solely on earning a living, it is tough trying to juggle both work and playing rugby at a high level. This initiative by the government will at least go some way towards helping an athlete focus his or her mind totally on the sport.

The world of sport is professional today. In Hong Kong, the top athletes are well looked after at the Hong Kong Sports Institute, a state-of-the-art elite training academy which the government of Hong Kong recently refurbished to the tune of Rs. 32 billion.

Athletes at this academy – there are 16 so-called elite sports – are pampered getting everything from accommodation to a monthly retainer. Hong Kong’s rugby sevens players – rugby sevens only became an elite sport in April – get between Rs.350,000 a month to Rs.175,000.

In comparison Sri Lanka’s counterparts are getting a modest sum but then you have to take into account the cost of living which is totally different between Colombo and Hong Kong.

What matters is that Sri Lanka has made a start and is going down the right road. Just imagine what Rs.40,000 a month will mean to javelin throwers Nadeeka Lakmal and Sachith Chathuranga who both have been identified as potential medal winners in the future.

Kudos to the government for taking this move, and as Aluthgamage said: “Our main intention is to infuse professionalism to sport in the country”.

The other encouraging fact about this initiative is that team sports have been included in this programme. Apart from rugby, football and netball are also in the list of 14 sports.

As the minister pointed out, the world’s beautiful game is played mostly by players who “do menial jobs and then play a few hours of football in the evening”.

Money will make their world go ‘round’ and hopefully it will be a huge incentive for the individuals to dedicate more time and commitment to the sport.

In netball, Sri Lanka has been one of the top-ranked teams in Asia and this financial support will do our women a great deal of good.

Sports has for long been regarded as fun and recreation in Sri Lanka. But those part-time attitudes are changing now as most sports now fall into line with cricket, the only truly professional sport in the country for a long time.

This infusion of funding will go a long way towards helping change mindsets and it is great to see the government, for the first time, get behind the rest of the sporting community and try to haul them up to the level of popularity cricket enjoys today.While the main thrust of this Rs.300 million funding is undertaken with an eye on boosting performance at next year’s Asian Games and Commonwealth Games, the longerterm goal must be the 2017 Asian Youth Games in Hambantota.

The cream of our youth must also be given encouragement to dedicate their time and efforts to doing the country proud when it holds its biggest multisports event in history. And it would be timely if a similar financial programme targeting the youth is also put in place.

But we must be thankful that a first step has been taken in the right direction. If what is sown today produces bountiful fruit, then perhaps more funding can be disbursed wider in the near future. Sport can play a huge role in providing a feel-good factor for a country and its masses. Cricket has done that already. It is time now for other sports to chip in and we must be grateful that the powers-that-be are mindful of this.