Hemasiri Fernando’s elevation as the President of the National Olympic Committee (NOC) for a 4th term uncontested, will not go down well with the general sports fans here.

They would be more concerned about the medals won by their sporting heroes instead of the personal milestones of any local sports administrators.

But, beneath the seemingly smooth voyage of Fernando’s rise to achieve top accolades here, lies the story of Sri Lanka legislature passing a vital amendment to the sports law of the country in 2005 where a fair number of members of the then sports council thought, was hazardous to the country’s sports scene at large.

By the time Fernando completes his 4th term, he would complete a stay in power even the incumbent president of the NOC’s parent body, the International Olympic Committee (IOC), couldn’t even dream of holding.

According to the drastic changes the IOC made to its constitution in 2004, it is stipulated that the President of the IOC could hold office only for two four-year terms and, if the committee members agree, his term could be extended to another half a term. That makes the maximum stay in power for an IOC President 10 years.

While the IOC adopted this more democratic measure, in 2004, Sri Lanka’s then sports minister introduced an amendment to the sports law to allow the NOC President to stay in power for a life time!

According to an amendment made to the sports law in 1993 in the Sri Lanka Parliament, it was stipulated that the maximum number of consecutive terms of office for an NOC official was two. A paragraph, Paragraph ‘e,’ was added to Section 21 of the Principal Enactment (Sports Law) which says "…not being the member referred to in subsection 2 (a) of section 18, has served in such committee for two consecutive terms of office."

The law makers of Sri Lanka’s Parliament in 1993 thought it was necessary to keep the number of terms the top office bearers could hold office in National associations to a maximum of two consecutive terms. The above said clause was one of nearly 13 sections amended in the Act No.47 of 1993 which amended the Sports Law of (No.25) 1973 in the year 1993.

It was discussed at the time this law was passed, that some officials of Sports Associations had stayed in power for long periods without helping to develop the respective sport. It was also discussed --even in the Parliament-- that some of the officials of sports bodies had used their position to travel around the world without helping the development of sport. It was under these circumstances that the sports Act No.47 of 1993 was introduced and passed in Parliament with good intentions.

In Sep., 2005, with little more than a month to go for the NOC Annual General Meeting, the above clause was dropped from the principal enactment as Sports Minister Jeevan Kumarathunga brought in Act No.33 of 2005 to drop that clause.

"Section 21 of the principal enactment is hereby amended by the repeal of paragraph (e) of that section."

Kumarathunga had under him one of the best sports councils Sri Lanka had but he did not seek their advice before bringing in the amendment which bewildered and shocked many a sports council member. According to Parliament sources, the Act was passed surprisingly without a debate as it was presented as a modest and lesser Act even without it being discussed at an all party committee with a quorum.

It is learnt that even sports ministry officials had been kept in the dark about the amendment and the only objection to the amendment had been raised by Arjuna Ranatunga and Dimuthu Abeykoon, a JVP member who also had been informed by some civic conscious individuals about Kumarathunga’s move on the morning of the very day the amendment was tabled in the Parliament.

A number of members of the National Sports Council were worried about Kumarathunga’s move and it was reported that he had later convinced some of them that the amendment would not lead to any dictatorial authority by Hemasiri Fernando at the NOC as Fernando had earlier promised not to contest further NOC elections.

Literally, Fernando has kept the promise only to the letter and it seems that the members of the NOC who are eligible to hold office --as its President too-- have helped Fernando to keep the promise by not contesting him for the post to date. The amendment discussed allows not only Hemasiri, but anyone at the helm to remain in power as long as he wishes if he is capable of getting the support of its members.

How could this amendment help sports in Sri Lankan? Why were steps not taken to rectify the error by Jeewan Kumarathunga even after the then sports council members pointed it out? Does the incumbent Sports Minister and his Sports Council justify the amendment? These are some of the questions that have gone unanswered.

As once said by Hemasiri Fernando himself, the NOC had acted like a ‘reputed travel agency’ rather than a sports body responsible for the development of sports in the past.

Fernando had constantly said that NOC is ‘not a medal factory.’ And, Sri Lanka had, in its history, won just two Olympic medals and if it’s not the responsibility of the NOC to develop sports, why should its head be given provisions through bizarre Sports Law amendments to stay in power for decades?