Colombo, Sri Lanka, September 8, 2025: It was not just about fun at the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games Fun Run in Colombo, with the National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka also having a ‘Safe Sports’ booth at the beachfront venue on Monday, September 8.
“We wanted to take this opportunity to educate our youth and for the first time we are carrying out a public awareness campaign on Safe Sport,” said Sri Lanka NOC Vice President Niloo Jayatilake.
Jayatilake, who is also an OCA Executive Board Member, revealed that sexual harassment and child abuse in sports was “an issue” in Sri Lanka and that the NOC was taking serious measures to battle it.
“This is an issue in Sri Lanka. We have got a lot of complaints coming in and we have decided one of the ways we will address this is to raise awareness and educate our young athletes,” said Jayatilake, who is also the Chair of the NOC’s Gender Equity Committee.
With the Fun Run gaining plenty of attention, the Sri Lanka NOC decided to have a Safeguarding booth at the event.
“We want the public to know what Safe Sports is all about. There are games which they can participate in, answering questions, and this will hopefully raise awareness,” Jayatilaka said.
Among the measures taken by the Sri Lanka NOC to battle this scourge is setting up dedicated helplines for victims to call in, and setting up an independent complaints process which is completely confidential.
So, for the first time at a Fun Run event in Asia this year, organisers decided to have an educational campaign too as part of the proceedings. It was not just about fun.