The Sports Ministry has vowed to investigate how the Golf Union deployed four professional golfers to participate at the Asian Games in Indonesia contravening international rules that said only amateurs may be nominated, thereby triggering an arbitration application by six other nations and “bringing Sri Lanka into disrepute”.
An official from the Sri Lanka Golf Union confirmed sending four professional golfers for the biennial Games, on the request of the National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka (NOCSL). It later instructed them to nominate three amateurs as replacements.
“I am deeply disheartened by this incident,” said Sports Minister Faiszer Musthapha, confirming that he had approved the names of three replacements.“This is a serious incident and I am going to have an independent inquiry to deal with those responsible for bringing Sri Lanka into disrepute.”
Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Macau and Uzbekistan were accused of fielding professional players in a tournament reserved for amateurs but the cases against Bangladesh, Macau and Uzbekistan were dismissed due to inaccuracies in the player listing. The Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) then also dismissed the case filed against Sri Lanka by six countries–including Asian Games host Indonesia–challenging the inclusion of professional golfers in their team but not until the NOCSL agreed to withdraw three of the four original players and replace them with amateurs as stipulated in the Games Handbook.
According to the entry policies set out in paragraph 8.3 of the Handbook to which the participating NOCs are required to adhere, only amateur players could be entered. But the arbitrators held: “The Panel would not have been comfortably satisfied, on the basis of the evidence adduced at the hearing, that the Applicants had discharged their evidentiary obligation or establishing, relevantly for present purposes, that any of the relevant athletes nominated by the Sri Lanka [sic] were of professional standing.”
“At the conclusion of the hearing, the Panel directed the Applicants to make an enquiry of the Sri Lanka Golf Association as to the status of the athletes nominated by Sri Lanka to participate at the 18th Asian Games,” the CAS order said. “The Panel was informed subsequent to the hearing and in accordance with its direction, that three of the athletes nominated by the Sri Lanka NOC each had professional status. The Panel was also subsequently informed that the Sri Lanka NOC had determined to replace the professional golf athletes for the 18th Asian Games with amateurs and that the Respondent had agreed to that course.”
Pro golfers Anura Rohana, Mithun Perera, Lalith Kumara and Nadaraja Thangaraj who play in various circuits in Asia were the four players named for the Asian Games. Anura Rohana was the winner of a silver medal at the 2002 Asian Games in Busan subsequently he turned professional. They were replaced by Sachin de Silva, Joseph de Soysa and George Kumara in the team.
Even though Sri Lanka had agreed to withdraw three players initially, their fourth player did not take the field during the competition which leaves the country with only three competitors in the team event as opposed to four by all other countries. This will substantially reduce the chances of earning a better placing as the best three individuals with the lowest number of strokes are considered in declaring the winner.
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