Asanga’s Houdini act stuns Umar, Shirantha

• NOCSL President insists State backing for sports is key

In a sensational turn of events which almost went close to midnight on 25 April, former Sri Lanka rugby star Asanga Seneviratne unexpectedly grabbed the top position at the National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka (NOCSL) – one of the nation’s most sought-after posts – for the body’s next four-year term at its Annual General Meeting (AGM).

The contest for the coveted post, vacated by the NOCSL’s outgoing President Suresh Subramaniam following a straight eight-year tenure, was initially deemed a five-pronged battle.

Those in the fray included Seneviratne, Shirantha Peries, Jaswar Umar, Deva Henry, and Prithiviraj Perera, with the latter two opting out of the contest in the run-up to the election, reducing it to a three-way scrap.

On the day of the election, however, Seneviratne – who is also the President of the Sri Lanka Amateur Baseball/Softball Association – pulled the rug out from under Umar’s feet, despite the latter being in the eyes of the media and larger sports community, and being fancied to land the job.

Seneviratne, a former Sri Lanka, CR & FC, and S. Thomas’ fly-half and a first-class cricketer for CCC, prevailed by a margin of five votes at the election held at the Olympic House Auditorium, which was rendered out of bounds for the media.

In the lead-up to one of the most intensely contested elections in the NOCSL’s 90-year history, majority consensus within the sporting community was that Football Federation of Sri Lanka (FFSL) President Umar would become its new head.

Peries from the National Shooting Sport Federation of Sri Lanka (NSSF-SL) also captured the media limelight in a manner similar to Umar throughout the short campaign trail and believed he too had the necessary numbers to go the entire way.

However, neither of them bargained for the great Houdini act performed by the ex-Thomian sportsman, who, apparently out of nowhere, stunningly polled 16 votes against 11 for the FFSL President and a mere two for Peries.

In his maiden remarks to the media upon assuming the new role, Seneviratne spoke of his ambition to obtain Government support for sports ahead of the initiation of a coordinated international medal-winning campaign.

He stated that revamping the country’s sporting sphere within the next four-year cycle would be his key priority, with desired backing from the State and private sectors as well as stakeholders.

Meanwhile, Peries and Umar both claimed that there was more to it than met the eye on the eve of the election that sealed their fate the following day, and inferred a planned conspiracy by the powers that be.

The NOCSL election was conducted under the supervision of a special representative from the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) and an independent Election Committee headed by retired Justice of the Supreme Court K.T. Chitrasiri. 

Source - The Morning