The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has weighed in on the ongoing dispute within the National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka (NOCSL) by cutting their funding. This move is an attempt to pressure the NOCSL into taking necessary action regarding their Ethics Committee report.
The Ethics Committee report suggests the immediate suspension of the incumbent Secretary General of NOCSL, Maxwell de Silva, pending further investigations by law enforcement and other statutory authorities regarding several allegations of ethics violations and misuse of funds.
In a joint letter dated 10 December, James Macleod, IOC Director of NOC Relations, Olympic Solidarity, and Husain Al-Musallam, Director General of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), stated:
“Unfortunately, we understand that these internal disputes and ethical issues, in particular those raised by your NOC’s Ethics Committee, have yet to be addressed and resolved properly by your NOC. This extremely regrettable situation, which has been seriously tarnishing the credibility and reputation of your NOC, has been going on for too long and has been creating a lot of uncertainty and doubts relating to the internal governance and operations of your NOC.”
The letter went on to state further repercussions for the NOCSL for dragging the issue out over months:
“Consequently, we regret to inform you that the IOC/Olympic Solidarity and the OCA are no longer in a position to make any payments to your NOC, except for direct payments to athletes benefiting from Olympic scholarships. This protection and precautionary measure will apply with immediate effect and until further notice.”
Meanwhile, Debendranath Sarangi, Chairman of the Ethics Committee of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), wrote to NOCSL President Suresh Subramaniam on 12 December stating:
“I find that no action has been taken yet by your Executive Board on the recommendations of the Ethics Committee of NOCSL regarding the unethical and unconstitutional conduct on the part of your Secretary General. Please take note of the fact that as pointed out by Jerome, this serious governance issue is going to damage the reputation of NOCSL leading to harsh action by IOC.”
President Subramaniam, in a letter to the NOCSL Executive Board (EB), accused them of turning a blind eye to or acquiescing Secretary de Silva’s actions and urged them to take necessary action to avoid further damage to the country’s reputation on the international stage:
“I believe the aforementioned suspension is the culmination of a series of lapses by the NOCSL, in particular the EB’s insistence on turning a blind eye to and/or acquiescing in the Secretary-General Maxwell de Silva’s unethical and/or unlawful conduct. In the letter under reference, the IOC is categoric in its view that the suspension has been imposed due to the EB’s failure to address the situation pertaining to Maxwell’s suspension by the Ethics Committee of the NOCSL.”
“Even at this late stage, where substantial damage has already been inflicted on the reputation, credibility, and dignity of the NOCSL, I earnestly request the EB to take necessary and appropriate action to accept/adopt the Ethics Committee’s recommendation to suspend Maxwell pending further investigations,” urged Subramaniam.
IOC intervenes
Earlier, in an email dated 5 November, Jerome Poivey, Associate Director of Institutional and Governance Services at the IOC NOC Relations Department, urged Suresh Subramaniam, President of NOCSL, to convene an urgent meeting of the NOC Executive Board to take appropriate action in accordance with the NOCSL Constitution regarding the conclusions and recommendations made by the NOC Ethics Committee:
“We understand that your NOC Ethics Committee has reviewed the allegations raised and provided recommendations, which, for unknown reasons, have not yet been considered by your NOC Executive Board,” Poivey stated in his letter to Subramaniam.
Poivey also warned that the internal governance issues have seriously damaged the operations and reputatio