IOC gives Sri Lanka until end of year to revise sports legislation

Thursday, 15 October 2015 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Lausanne: The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has agreed to allow Sri Lanka to complete the revision process for the sports legislation by the end of this year when a Sri Lankan government delegation met with the IOC on Tuesday in Lausanne, Switzerland.

The IOC, along with representatives of ASOIF, ANOC and the OCA, met the Sri Lankan Government led by Minister of Sports Dayasiri Jayasekara and the National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka.

The IOC said it had a “constructive and fruitful” meeting in Lausanne with the Sri Lankan delegation.

The main purpose of this meeting was to review the progress made in the revision of the sports legislation in Sri Lanka and to reach mutual understanding to ensure the legislation is compatible with the basic principles and rules that govern the Olympic Movement, the IOC said.

All parties agreed to “fully respect and comply” with the principles and rules of the Olympic Charter and the statutes of the International Federations.

Following a meeting with the IOC in 2013, the international sports body warned about the influence of the Sports Ministry and lack of autonomy to the sports bodies and asked to do away with the controversial provisions in the Sports Law to ensure autonomy and jurisdiction of national sports associations or risk losing international status.

Sri Lanka agreed to revise the 1973 sports law within nine months after the meeting and to review the specific government regulations derived from the sports law within six months in order to make them compatible with the basic principles which govern the Olympic Movement.

In May this year the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) withdrew Sri Lanka from hosting the 2017 Asian Youth Games due to political influence on the National Olympic Committee.