By – Nishman Ranasingha
Sri Lanka’s national javelin record holder and national champion Rumesh Taranga is in danger of missing out on non-issuance of visas to participate in the international championship in Bresbane, Australia, which begins on January 25.
Rumesh missed out on the opportunity to represent the Paris Olympics due to lack of adequate international level competitions and the current Athletics Association as well as the current Ministry of Sports were responsible for this. Sugatha Tillakaratne was honestly the current Deputy Minister of Sports among those who were shocked by this.
Https://qldathletics.org.au/event/brisbane-throws-challenge/ can know the details of the event and the recognition of Romesh’s talent as one of the world’s leading javelin throwers has been found and he is ready for the invitation for the tournament, but he has not yet received the required visa. The top officials of the Sports Ministry as well as the Ministers have said that they will intervene to grant permission in this regard through the Foreign Minister, but due to the lack of Australian visas, the country’s main hope for Olympics 2028 is now left unattended. It is regrettable that the government has not intervened in resolving this visa issue in such a way that the private sponsor who has come forward on behalf of the hopeful Rumesh is gradually turning indifferent.
It is a show in the past that the Athletics Association and the Sports Ministry are pointing fingers at each other due to lack of frequent visas. Here the Athletics Association has prepared all the documents for the respective sports festival and the delay of visas can be intervened at the diplomatic level. It is regrettable that the first attempt on the journey to qualify has thus undermined the contribution of those responsible for the visa issue.
