Sri Lanka group has some ‘splaining to do as bogus WMA affiliate
Whoops! I just got a whole national governing body in trouble. Remember my post ripping Sri Lanka for mandating a masters national appearance to be eligible for Lyon worlds? Folks at WMA read it, too. And they were pissed! (Not at me, though.) WMA noticed the logo of a rival body, holding its own masters nationals. According to a story published Saturday in the Nation newspaper, “President Stan Perkins and General Secretary Winston Thomas of World Masters Athletics (WMA) [have] clearly stated that Sri Lanka Masters Athletics (SLMA) is not recognized by the WMA and Asian Masters Athletics (AMA) [and] as such they cannot function as a governing body for masters athletes.” Turns out another body is the true WMA affiliate (which produced the video below). The SLMA, we learn, is a rogue operation.
The story continued:
It is alleged that the SLMA has called for entries to participate in an athletic meet to be held on May 7 and 8. This meet is also to serve as a trial to select teams to represent Sri Lanka at the World Masters Athletic Championship to be held in Lyon, France, in August this year. The SLMA has also stated that this meet is a [dual] meet with India, which is also considered illegal.
The WMA are said to be planning to display a list of athletes who participate in this meet and they will be banned from participation in championships conducted by WMA, AMA and their affiliates.
President Stan Perkins and General Secretary Winston Thomas of the WMA want the Athletic Association of Sri Lanka (AASL) to take up the matter with SLMA and warn them about their position with the World and Asian bodies for masters athletics.
Athletes are warned to abstain from participating in this meet organized by the SLMA [or] be banned for life.
Athletes can participate in the Masters Athletics Sri Lanka (MASL) championships, which will be held on 16 & 17 May at the Mahinda Rajapaksa Stadium as MASL is the recognized affiliate of the World Masters Athletics and Asia Masters Athletics.
Contact S.P. Rupasinghe regarding entries for the MASL meet.
So there you go.
It appears WMA has teeth after all.
Now let’s see if WMA can sort out the situation in India, which has had a problem with dueling national masters organizations.
One Response
Banned for life! What the heck are things coming to?
The rouge in me would compete anyway just to see what happens.
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