The Hon. Dayasiri Jayasekara, Attorney-at-Law

¶ 01 Thank you, Hon. Presiding Member.

¶ 02 Today we are discussing regulations under the Convention Against Doping in Sports Act with regard to the use of prohibited stimulants in sports. I believe we began this journey alongside the programme to tackle prohibited stimulants. In Sri Lanka, the office dealing with prohibited stimulants was once inside a small room. In 2016, I was able to build a new building and provide the full capacity required for this task. While serving as the subject Minister, we built a new building and a new office, and provided leadership to take Sri Lanka to the world in this discipline.

¶ 03 Our present subject Minister is not here, but I wish to particularly remind him about issues within the Olympic Committee. The National Olympic Committee (NOCSL) has convened an Annual General Meeting for 25 April. However, there was no Annual General Meeting held in 2025, no 2026 Budget has been passed, and the audit report for 2024 has not been submitted to date. Under our legal framework, every association in Sri Lanka must submit its audit report before 28 February each year. Yet the Olympic Committee, which represents all associations, has failed to submit that report. There was no AGM in 2025. An unapproved budget from 2025 has effectively been carried into 2026, and they now intend to approve it this year.

¶ 04 I ask the Hon. Minister, what steps will you take? If any other association had done this, they could have been sanctioned. But the Olympic Committee seems unwilling to comply. On 23 April 2025, a letter titled “Grave Concerns Regarding the Conduct of Mr. Suresh Subramanium - President, NOCSL” was sent, calling for immediate action. More than a year has passed; nothing has been done. Further, a personal gift was given—funds connected to a gift from the Director General of the Olympic Council of Asia, Capt. Husain, who visited Sri Lanka—then the Olympic Committee took that money back. I have the relevant audio; I will table it.

¶ 05 They have also formed a new Ethics Committee and listed names of all those opposed to them, disqualifying them from contesting elections. In this Government, even though serious allegations have been filed against the Minister of Power and Energy, he remains in office; yet the Olympic Committee prevents those with allegations from even contesting. This is entirely wrong.

¶ 06 There are also serious corruption allegations within the Olympic Committee. For example, there was a deposit of Rs. 100 million; more than Rs. 80 million of it has been withdrawn without any approval at an AGM. Numerous other grave issues exist. Rather than addressing these, what is happening now is to file various allegations against those due to contest—particularly the President of the Football Federation and others—send them to the Ethics Committee and block their candidacy. Therefore, I urge the Hon. Minister to initiate an immediate investigation.

¶ 07 On sports more broadly, I note good news. Our men’s hockey team reached the semi-finals in the qualifier for the Asian Games to be held in Nagaland and, after 20 years, defeated Bangladesh. We congratulate them. The women’s hockey team is due to travel to Indonesia. However, an unprecedented new procedure has begun: now it is “reimburse.” Athletes and their parents must pawn jewellery and find money to buy airline tickets—and only months after returning, do they get reimbursed. During my tenure as Minister, we provided airline tickets and accommodation up front to every team. Each year I went to the Ministry of Finance outlining Olympic and other overseas and domestic events and secured the necessary funds, including for airline tickets.