NOCSL elections in Dec 28- The heat is on

Retired Major General Palitha Fernando, President of the Sri Lanka Athletic Association, has handed over nominations along with current President Suresh Subramaniam to contest for the post of President of the National Olympic Committee.

A duel is brewing between Maxwell de Silva, Secretary General of the National Olympic Committee and Mohan Wijesinghe, Secretary of the Sri Lanka Badminton Association for the post of Secretary. In the last election, Rohan Fernando, the opposition presidential candidate for the Subramaniam Maxwell faction, did not nominate for any post.

The vote has taken a heated turn as all parties have nominated for all the posts in the election.

All arrangements have been made to hold the National Olympic Committee election on the 28th at the Hemasiri Fernando Auditorium at the Olympic residence and the acceptance of nominations ended at 4.00 pm yesterday. The 35 sports associations in Sri Lanka that have the opportunity to represent the Olympic Games will be elected by a vote for a term of 4 years.

Eight nominations have been received for four Vice Presidential posts and Asanga Seneviratne, Suranjith Premadasa,  Joseph Kenny and  Nilu Jayatilleke have come forward from Suresh Subramaniam’s fraction.

Palitha Fernando is represented by Diane Gomez, Kanchana Jayaratne, Kamal Pushpakumara and Preethi Perera. Gamini Jayasinghe on behalf of Suresh Subramaniam and Ajith Siyambalapitiya on behalf of Palitha Fernando submitted nominations for the post of Treasurer.

The Olympic Committee elections were last held in February 2018, and with two months to go before the end of the four-year term, member sports associations have been re-elected. The special feature of this election is that the voting is done in a secret manner using ballot papers.

Suresh Subramaniam and Rohan Fernando contested for the post of President of the National Olympic Committee in the last election where Subramaniam received 18 votes and Rohan Fernando received 12 votes. Incumbent Secretary Maxwell de Silva received 19 votes and Preethi Viraj Porera 12 votes in the battle for the post of General Secretary.