What should our Ministry of Sports look like?

By a Special Correspondent

There is a new Government! The horse trading appears to be a prolonged back-bending extraction and when it comes, we will see who will consist of the engine of restructure that is the buzz word in Governmental pre-occupations. The President is taking his time and then for the duration of the current administration, it will be known who these Camelot’s are? 

It is likely that we will see a new Minister of Sports (and Youth) as it is normally bundled or will the incumbent continue as it is? As there is a plethora of former Ministers in the cold without portfolio, the likelihood is that Sports will be a convenient repository to park a cooperating party-man and give him the encumbrance of a State or Deputy Minister or both, the more the merrier.

Indeed, right now we have what is increasingly evident, two Ministers of Sports! We have the official appointee and the other, who masquerades as the Chairman of the National Sports Council. What our leaders will not concede is the concise version of a well-knit compact tour-de-force that will come to grips with what this nation sorely needs; governance in the truest sense of the word. 

But no, we must complicate our lives and have one for textiles, one for handlooms, one for batik and one for apparel. And so it can be for sports; we can have one for cricket for sure, what with our lads having ridiculed the Indians who taught the Asia Cup was better fought for in the UAE, perhaps one for Paralympic sports now that we have giant beaters and another for women just to offer a semblance of gender balance.

But to cut to the chase, it is no secret that our National Sports needs a new, more intellectual thought process. The book has been written again and again on Sports Management and organisations such as the IOC expounds its merits in all nations, the global icons and the small but discerning sporting nations. Fundamentally, sports is not any more a recreational good-feel occupation of a differently talented young man or woman whose exuberance produces an outstanding performance. 

In today’s over-heated cauldron of international sports, an arduous soul consuming lifetime of excellence is demanded where victory and defeat are measured in green backs and nothing less. For a relatively small nation like Sri Lanka, every triumph sedates the populace and sparks an evening of unbridled joy as we have seen, when we take a game to the wire and beat an entire continent to surrender.

What therefore should our Ministry of Sports (MOS) look like? Should it resemble the moribund old Government departments of the 60s or should it enact a smart, dynamic new fountain of youth that can be let loose in a search for excellence?  Any management guru will tell you that such a transformation does not happen by accident. No amount of bureaucratic musical chairs will alleviate the need for hard-nosed structural reforms; as the saying goes nowadays, a system change is a veritable necessity. 

If one were to suggest broad strokes of immediate resolution, one does not require the wisdom of a McKinsey Consultancy to set the ball rolling. What it absolutely needs is a modicum of common sense and a surplus of genuine intent, something in pretty short supply in Diyawanna.  A Minister (and you don’t need two or aides) must confront sports policy dictums and address the question that any venture does these days; it must define in clear-cut terms, what its Vision, Mission and Value system should target. 

The refurbished Ministry Offices are adorned with these statements but it is doubtful if the Minister or any of his grossly extended team has an inkling of what it proposes and sets out to do.

Therefore, a renewal of precise simplified mindset is basic to any such exercise. In simple terms; 1) National Objectives, 2) Organisational Structure, 3) Developed Talent and 4) Desired Outcomes and 5) Periodic Evaluations. It should then take stock of the number of sports it is required to govern; should it play a regulatory role or exercise absolute control. 

It should redefine the need for its associated agencies, A) Sports Development, B) Sports Selection, C) Sports Council, D) Sports Science, E) Sports Medicine and the symbiotic relationship it has with the National Olympic Committee (NOC). These agencies must be structured so as to dovetail into the overall objectives of the Sports Policy framework. Each running away with its own agenda does not help. 

One can for example question the validity of the National Sports Council (NSC); what exactly is its purpose? It had an appendage called The High Performance Unit (HPU) under the tutelage of the former Minister which showed promise. The country’s meltdown may have decimated this important design in an elite sports model that focused on international competition. 

The composition of the NSC is vital for its intended purpose, if any? It appears that the Sports Development role has been delegated to the NSC; it had some serious talent at one stage but seems to have degenerated into another political pitch that claims to address corruption. Therein lies the crunch; a misinterpretation of purpose.

The MOS must draw on the expertise available at the NOC and the experience it derives from the IOC. It must also develop a stronger bond with the primary NFs and their masters, such as the ICC, FIFA, IAAF and so many world renowned bodies that run efficient and valuable sports models. Sports Management is at the heart of these organisations and while there is a political motivation in their existence, the uncompromising quest for improved performance never diminishes. 

It may be timely for the MOS and NOC to establish a joint (out of the box) partnership to emphasise Excellence in Sports at the National Level. To achieve this objective ground up, it will have to impose a basic performance and grading model for all NFs; A, B C to start with. It will then be able to allocate funds and other resources in order of merit, greatly enhancing the transparency factor. 

Such a model can be placed in a National Sports Portal that will capture time bound details of the NFs; their organisational structure, annual plans, periodic progress, high performance talent, comparative international standards, financial reports, etc., so that results and accountability become a basic criteria for regular evaluation. From that base can grow a paradigm shift in our national sports psyche. Welcome to a transformed Ministry of Sports.