Furnishing Facts As Right of Reply
It has been observed that a malicious report was uploaded in the social media regarding Olympic Council of Asia ( OCA ) elections held last July. It implies the improper conduct of some senior officials of the National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka ( NOCSL ).
This refers to the International Olympic Committee ( IOC ) Ethics Committee report sent to the OCA & National Olympic Committees ( NOCs ) of Asia. The report has no mention of any involvement of any officials of NOCSL in the said election of the OCA that was held in Bangkok.
NOCSL accounts are audited by the Auditor General & all funds received from IOC / OCA are also audited by their appointed International Auditor in Sri Lanka. There has been no adverse observation / comment by the auditors regarding the financial management of NOCSL, since it’s inception.
There has been a situation in the past, that allegations relating to senior officials of NOCSL were investigated but found that there is no merit in any of those allegations.
It has to be noted that the NOCSL conducts many educational programmes for National Sports Administrators / Coaches / Athletes with funds received from the IOC. They also facilitated overseas training for Technical Officials & Athletes to gain valuable international exposure. The continued success of Weightlifting is a clear example of the benefits / successes of these activities. Many National athletes are being funded over a long period of time, to train abroad in various sports. Some are sponsored for participation at foreign sports events.
Sri Lankan contingents for major sporting events receive extensive sponsorships for participation. The historic medal won in Women’s Wrestling at the last Commonwealth Games in Birmingham & also the performances during the recent Asian Games in Hangzhou bear testimony for the successes of these funding programmes.