“From netball’s visa fiasco, rugby’s backdoor deals, unauthorized boxing tours and shooting’s corruption, Sports Minister Sunil Kumara Gamage has turned blunders into a fine art. Critics say his latest ‘21-day rule’ is like wearing a condom after sex, useless once the damage is done. Now, with scandals piling up, the question is clear: will President AKD finally act?”
If ever there was a moment that summed up the current state of Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Sports, it was this: the Netball Youth World Cup squad stranded at home, their dreams crushed, because their visas had not been processed in time. And just as the damage became irreversible, Sports Minister Sunil Kumara Gamage suddenly rose from his shallow slumber to issue an order so belated and toothless that the public could only laugh bitterly.
On 25 September, Gamage warned that from now on, all sports associations and federations must submit visa applications and relevant documents 21 days before departure for overseas competitions. If not, he thundered, those tours would be cancelled outright. His warning was wrapped in pomp and ceremony at the Duncan White Auditorium, during the “Mission Olympics 2028” event, where 85 athletes and coaches were granted state-sponsored funds in preparation for Los Angeles.
But to sports fans and administrators, Gamage’s decree was nothing short of ridiculous, a ministerial version of “wearing a condom after sex.” The humiliation had already occurred, the damage was done, the athletes were left behind. To lecture sports bodies after the fact is not leadership, it is mockery.
A Minister of No Repute
Let’s be factual. Until his sudden appearance as a National List MP for the National People’s Power (NPP), no one in Sri Lanka’s sporting circles had even heard of Sunil Kumara Gamage. He was never elected, never tested by the people, merely parachuted into Parliament thanks to the party’s allocation. His experience? A background in finance and work at the National Water Board.
Yet now, intoxicated by the spotlight, Gamage struts as though he is Sri Lanka’s great sports reformer. In reality, his actions have been inconsistent, half-baked, and riddled with hypocrisy. At times he appears eager to cleanse sports of fraud and corruption, his suspension of Maxwell de Silva, the Secretary General of the National Olympic Committee, was hailed as a bold entry. But within months, he revealed himself as a man willing to bend rules, cover up for cronies, and sell his soul to political expediency.
Boxing Abroad Without Permission
Take the Sri Lanka Boxing Association (SLBA). This body effectively showed Gamage the middle finger by sending teams on two overseas tours, one to Seychelles and another to Bangkok without securing Ministry approval. In the Seychelles case, boxers and officials flew out, competed, and returned, all without clearance. In Bangkok, permission was granted two days after the event had already concluded.
That farce alone should have jolted Gamage into action. Instead, he slumbered, pretended nothing was wrong, and only now, after the netball fiasco, he discovers the need for “strict” visa regulations.
As one disgruntled sports lover quipped: “That’s like wearing a condom after the act of sex. It does nothing to stop the mess that has already been made.”
The Rugby Scandal: Ekanayake’s Puppet
If his bungling of netball and boxing was not enough, Gamage’s handling of Sri Lanka Rugby (SLR) is a masterclass in incompetence.
Though he appointed a Working Task Force (WTF) to oversee rugby’s affairs until the upcoming AGM and elections, he simultaneously handed Priyantha Ekanayake, his hand-picked Chairman of the National Sports Council (NSC), unbelievable powers to run rugby directly. This meant that the WTF, despite being gazetted, was reduced to a rubber stamp body, while Ekanayake and his cronies dictated terms.
The consequences have been disastrous. Two individuals, Rodney Gibbs, a coach from New Zealand, and Imthie Marikkar, a man with no legal position in SLR were smuggled into the touring party for the Asia Rugby Emirates Sevens Series in China. This, despite the WTF explicitly striking their names from the list of officials sent for Ministry approval.
On 24 September 2025, a meeting was held at the Office of the Chairman of the National Sports Council with several key members present, including Group Captain (Retd) Nalin De Silva, Hassan Sinhawansa, Rohan Abayakoon, Priyantha Ekanayake, and Udaya Jayasundera. During this meeting, it was noted that the appointments of Rodney Gibbs and Imthie Marikkar were made solely under the instructions of the Minister of Sports, bypassing established procedures. Furthermore, it was decided that Sri Lanka Rugby would bear no responsibility for their travel costs, as the Ministry itself would directly handle airfare and ticketing, raising further concerns over transparency and accountability.
- Priyantha Ekanayake himself had instructed that Gibbs and Marikkar be sent, bypassing the WTF.
- SLR was absolved of financial responsibility. Instead, Gibbs’s airfare was alledgely sponsored by Rohan Abeykoon, while his salary is believed to have been arranged through a U.S. dollar transfer from a third party sponsor. Insiders whisper that this may border tax evasion and or money laundering.
- Marikkar was appointed by the Ministry of Sports as “Director Rugby” by ministerial fiat, despite the SLR Constitution making no provision for such a role.
Blocking World Rugby Representation
The humiliation doesn’t end there. Sri Lanka has not been physically represented at the World Rugby General Assembly in the UK since 2019. This year, the WTF appointed Group Captain (Rtd) Nalin De Silva to attend in person. But Ekanayake insisted that Imthie Marikkar should go instead.
World Rugby had already issued Marikkar a ticket, but after he refused to sign a new contract as Director High Performance, he ceased to be an official of SLR. The WTF attempted to correct this and nominate De Silva, but by then it was too late as World Rugby refused to issue another ticket. As a result, Sri Lanka’s presence at the global summit will be a Zoom call from Colombo, a humiliation engineered by incompetence and arrogance.
Corrupt Appointments and Hypocrisy
The contradictions don’t stop there. Gamage has allowed:
- Rohan Abeykoon, an NSC member who openly violates the Sports Law by supplying goods to Sri Lanka Cricket, to continue in office.
- Sidath Wettimuny, currently a petitioner in a court case against the Ministry of Sports, to remain on the NSC.
- Dinal Phillips PC, Wettimuny’s lawyer in the same case, to be appointed to the WTF on rugby.
If this isn’t a grotesque conflict of interest, what is?
He has also permitted the National Shooting Sports Federation to hold its AGM under old regulations, a blatant departure from his own decrees, allowing Shirantha Peiris, a man tainted by weapon-import scandals and political favoritism, to remain from President in the last term to Vice President this time around.
A Minister in Freefall
In short, Sunil Kumara Gamage is not running a Sports Ministry. He is running a circus. His lack of knowledge, lack of consistency, and lack of spine have allowed corruption, manipulation, and humiliation to flourish.
From netball’s heartbreak, to boxing’s defiance, to rugby’s disgrace, to shooting’s corruption, his every decision reeks of either ignorance or complicity.
The President Must Act
The comparison to “wearing a condom after sex” is crude but apt. Gamage acts only after the damage is done, when the shame is unavoidable. That is not leadership. That is cowardice.
The time has come for President Anura Kumara Dissanayake (AKD) to intervene. Either Gamage must be removed, or the rot will consume Sri Lanka’s sporting future entirely. The precedent is clear: Roshan Ranasinghe was dismissed after being misled by his NSC Chairman, Arjuna Ranatunga. Today, Sunil Kumara Gamage is on the same dangerous path, manipulated by Priyantha Ekanayake, blind to his own incompetence, and dragging the Ministry down with him.
For the sake of sport, for the sake of accountability, and for the sake of the nation’s reputation, the Minister must go. The President Anura Kumara Dissanayake must act.
NOC President Compromises Olympic Principles by Joining Ministerial Task Force
The independence of sport in Sri Lanka has been dealt a serious blow with Mr. Suresh Subramaniam, President of the National Olympic Committee (NOC), accepting a position in the Ministerially Appointed Working Task Force (WTF) for Sri Lanka Rugby.
• The Olympic Charter clearly prohibits political interference and does not recognize minister-appointed bodies. By joining the WTF, the NOC President is in direct violation of the Charter he is sworn to uphold.
• The WTF has no legal or constitutional mandate to alter or approve the SLR Constitution. Its actions bypass the authority of Sri Lanka Rugby’s elected membership.
• Mr. Subramaniam, who often presents himself as “Mr. Clean,” has shown a serious lapse in ethics and credibility by endorsing an unlawful, politically driven body.
This act not only undermines good governance in sport, but also raises the question: how can the head of Sri Lanka’s Olympic movement justify serving a political agenda over protecting the independence of sport?
Sri Lanka’s sporting fraternity deserves leaders of dignity, honor, and principle – not those willing to compromise Olympic values for political convenience.