IOC and OCA cut funding to Sri Lanka’s National Olympic Committee

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) have decided to suspend all payments to the National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka.

However, this excludes the direct payments made to athletes benefiting from Olympic scholarships, the National Olympic Committee has been informed via email.

Accordingly, a special General Meeting of the National Olympic Committee was held yesterday (December 13) in response to this decision, during which it was decided that the election of the National Olympic Committee should be held promptly. 

The current term of office of the committee is scheduled to end in April 2026. However, the proposal to hold an early election was passed by a two-thirds majority vote at yesterday’s meeting.

The next election of the National Olympic Committee has reportedly been planned to be held before March of next year after obtaining the recommendations of the IOC. 

Accordingly, the IOC and the OCA have suspended providing funds to Sri Lanka’s National Olympic Committee effective from December 10, 2024.

This had been officially conveyed to the NOCSL via a joint letter dated December 10, sent by IOC Director of NOC Relations, Olympic Solidarity, James Macleod and the Director General of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), Husain Al-Musallam.

This move is seen as 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.