Top Athletes missing from National Sports Festival 2019

The National Sports Festival 2019 (NSF) will get under way on 24th October in Badulla, but its opening ceremony will see one of the lowest turnouts, of top National athletes, for the past decade.

It’s peculiar scheduling and the venue forced many top notch athletes to boycott the competition, despite the Sports Ministry’s Department of Sports Development offering increased cash prizes and promises of motor cars for the best athletes.

The NSF is scheduled to be held from 24-27 October at the Vincent Dias Stadium Badulla, which has a grass track. The event is directly clashing with the World Military Games which is now underway in Wuhan, China, where 18 top National Athletes are competing. To top that, the All Island School Games is schedule to be held from 30 October to 03 November, where many top school athletes too had to make a hard choice of opting out from the NSF.

In addition, the forthcoming South Asian Games is scheduled to be held from 01-10 December in Nepal, and with just over a month to go for the all-important SAG, several SAG pool athletes had opted out from the NSF due to it conflicting with their training and the risk of getting injured competing on a grass track.

The 18 athletes who are in China include 100m National Champion and South Asian Games record holder Himasha Eashan, 200m SL number 02 Mohammad Safan, 400m National Champion Aruna Darshana, Triple Jump SL record holder Greshan Dhananjaya, Asian Championship Long Jump participant Prasad Wimalasiri,  Pole Vault National Champion and record holder Ishara Sandaruwan, Shot Put National Champion Tharika Fernando, 800m/1500m National Champion and 1500m National record holder Nimali Liyanarachchi, 800m National record holder Gayanthika Abeyrathne, 3000m Steeple Chase and 5000m National record holder Nilani Rathnayaka, 400m National Champion Nadeesha Ramanayaka, National record holder and National champion of both Triple and Long Jump events Vidusha Lakshani, Long Jump champion Sarangi Silva, Olympian Javelin Throwers cum National champion and National record holder Sumedha Ranasinghe and Olympian female Javelin Thrower cum National record holder and National Champion Nadeeka Lakmali.

Apart from the athletes in Wuhan, Vinoj Suranjaya de Silva the defending SAG 200m Champion and National record holder, 100m sprinter Yupun Abeykoon, youth sprinting sensation Shelinda Jansen and 200m women’s National Champion Sharmila Jan too have opted out from the NSF, while the jumpers will make a call depending on the condition of the grounds, where rain and a muddy track will see them too opting out.

However, the decision to opt out hasn’t been easy for many, as Sports Ministry seem to have rated best athletes of the NSF much higher than South Asian Games Gold medals by offering motor cars for the best athletes, which attraction has made some athletes decide to take part in the NSF despite the situation .

SUB HEAD: Request from Southern Province

Southern Province is set to be the most affected Province because of the scheduling clash, where non-participation of athletes like Nimali Liyanarachchi, Gayanthika Abeyrathne and Nadeesha Ramanayaka meant they are set to lose at least five possible Gold medals at the NSF. Their requests to the Sports Ministry to reschedule the event were denied.

Southern Province isn’t the only Province that’s set to be affected, as some of the other Provinces, including Western, too, will lose many medals, while sprint events (men’s) will look toothless during the competition with the 100m missing it’s top three national athletes, 200m missing it’s top two and 400m missing it’s National champion.

Injustice to athletes

National Athletes have sacrificed a lot to come out on top in their events and become National champions, but they claim they are now facing a grave injustice due to the Sports Ministry scheduling the NSF at a time where it’s impossible for them to compete, and also offering the biggest prizes during the year, which will deprive many of the top athletes from being in contention.

“Dates of SAG were known to them for months and every Sports Administrator in the country knows that almost all National athletes are employed by the Tri-Forces. Hence, all they had to do was simply Google and check what top international competitions have been scheduled during the year. Military World Games is right there on top. It’s unbelievable that they made this mess,” said an athlete, who wished to remain anonymous.

“At least they could have held this competition on a synthetic track where athletes can perform better. Which South Asian country holds its premier track and field event on a grass track now-a-days? I saw DG saying at a press conference that they are giving us a welcome pack with bag, towel and stuff which we did not ask for. We only asked for better scheduling and a better venue for us to perform,” said another athlete, who also did not want to mention the name for obvious reasons.

Even the Education Ministry shifted their All Island School Games from Anuradhapura to Sugathadasa Stadium with just three weeks to go, realising the weather situation in the country did not favour them, but for the Sports Ministry conducting the NSF in Badulla was the prime objective, especially because Sports Minister Harin Fernando’s electoral district is Badulla.

The Sports Ministry spends millions on NSF each year – for track kits, bags, caps, accommodation and food, ground preparation, decoration etc. etc. – with millions been paid to various merchants and service providers, where it’s no secret that many of those orders provides healthy commissions for officials.

The prime object – which is to facilitate athletes to offer better competition – seems to be the least of those officials’ concerns.