Colombo, Sri Lanka, December 28, 2021: Suresh Subramaniam has been re-elected President of the National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka for the next four years, 2022 to 2026.
Incumbent Subramaniam defeated challenger and President of Sri Lanka Athletics Major General (retd.) Palitha Fernando by 21 votes to 12 at the elections held at Olympic House in Colombo on Tuesday, December 28.
“This is a vote of confidence in me,” Subramaniam said afterwards. “When I first became President of the NOC back in 2018 I received 18 votes. I’m pleased to see more people are supporting me.”
Also retaining his position on the NOC executive committee is Secretary General Maxwell de Silva who easily warded off a challenge from Mohan WIjesinghe, winning by 23 votes to 10.
Four new Vice Presidents were also elected: Ms. Niloo Jayatilake, Suranjith Premadasa, Joseph Kenny and Kanchana Jayarathna.
Subramaniam pledged to continue to push an aggressive agenda, setting high targets of winning medals at the 2026 Dakar Youth Olympic Games and also ensuring that athletes qualify by right for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
“This year, at the Tokyo Olympics, all our athletes received wild cards. I want to ensure that we have athletes who earn their berths on merit at the Paris Olympics,” Subramaniam said.
“In my first term there were a lot of shortcomings which have now been corrected. Now I want results from the various National Sports Federations. They must come to me and show me a blueprint towards success as we look ahead to the Asian Games and the Commonwealth Games,” he added.
Just a few hours after Subramaniam retained his presidency, the NOC's GoodSports newsletter splashed the front page with news of his win and carried congratulatory messages.
