Sports Ministry Refuses Funding for Sri Lanka Junior Athletics Team

The Sports Ministry has refused to fund the Sri Lanka Junior Athletics team for the World Athletics Junior Championship to be held in Lima, Peru, from August 27 to 31.

Sri Lanka Athletics finalized qualifications last month from the Junior Nationals and sent an initial list of qualified athletes. They also sent another letter on August 1 requesting funds. However, with just ten days to go for the competition, the Sports Ministry stated in writing yesterday that they aren’t able to fund the tour and asked SLA to find their own funding.

The Sports Ministry usually funds airfare and accommodation for the team for all major athletics competitions (junior and senior), which is taken into account when the government makes budgetary allocations for the Sports Ministry.

As Ceylon Athletics  understands, SLA has been extra careful after unpleasant incidents during the last World Junior Championship in 2022 held in Colombia, where visa delays caused chaos with athletes missing events and sleeping on Torrington Square overnight in protest of the organizing mishaps of the tour, which created havoc in the media.

This time, with another Latin American country hosting the event, visas have already been obtained, and the flight path has been chosen to travel via Dubai and São Paulo to Lima before the Ministry informed that they are unable to fund the tour after sitting on the letter for two weeks.

The team is due to leave on Friday, the 23rd, leaving SLA with only four working days (Monday being a public holiday) to try and get the necessary funding and arrange air tickets to Lima, which cost more than 1.5 million per head.

Sri Lanka is set to send a team of 13 athletes for the tour, all of whom achieved the required qualifications on multiple occasions, marking the highest number of athletes from Sri Lanka who have achieved qualification standards.

Team  

Boys : Meron Wijesinghe  (100m ,4x100m) , Deneth Weeraratne (100m ,4x100m), Indusara Vidushan (200m,4x100m), Kaushal Thamel (200m 4x100m), Ayesh Miranga (4×100 m) , Jathya Kirulu ( 400m), Ayomal Akalanka (400m Hurdles), Lesandu Arthavidu (High Jump),  Tharusha Mendis (High Jump), Sandun Koshala (110m Hurdles)

Girls: Jithma Wijethunga (400m), Madushani Herath (Long Jump and Triple Jump)

Official: Chandana Ekanayaka(Manager )  , Dammika Kulathunga –Education Ministry (Lady Chaperon)