Sports bosses` tenures aren`t limited in Lanka, says official

New Delhi: The Sports Ministry is citing a law in Sri Lanka to push through a tenure limiting regulation but the chief of the Olympic association in the island nation claims the law has been amended and there is no cap on the sports administrators` terms there. Hemasiri Fernando, who has been at the helm of the National Olympic Committee (NOC) in Sri Lanka for the last 13 years, said the Sri Lankan Sport Law of 1973, which initially prescribed a two-tenure limit for the sports administrators, has been amended. "In 1993, an amendment was made to the law to restrict the office-bearers` tenures to a maximum of two terms. In 2006, that clause was dropped and there is no limit to an office-bearer`s term here," Fernando told reporters over phone."There is no restriction to the terms and I have been the head of the NOC here for the last 13 years," Fernando said. The Sports Ministry is trying to implement a regulation that limits the tenure of the National Sports Federation (NSF) presidents to 12 years, states that secretaries and treasurers can serve eight years at a stretch and advocates a retirement age of 70 for all executives.The Sports Ministry bid has met with stiff resistance from the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and National Sports Federation (NSF) officials who criticised the alleged infringment on their autonomy and said they are governed by the Olympic Charter only. Sports Ministry is seeking a meeting with IOC President Jacques Rogge even though IOC has warned that going ahead with the regulation might lead to India being thrown out of the Olympic family. PTI