Ex-Olympian Sunil Gunawardana to throw in the dice

By Susil Premalal

Sunil Gunawardana

Veteran Olympic athlete and former Sri Lanka Athletics head Sunil Gunawardana, has confirmed that he is prepared to contest the presidency of the Sri Lanka Athletics (SLA) for the upcoming 2026–2028 term. 

Speaking to the Daily Mirror yesterday, Gunawardana claimed that he was encouraged by requests from leading former international athletes and district association heads to be new head of athletics and plans to submit his official nomination. 

Gunawardana was a gold medalist in the 4×400m men’s relay at the 1974 Tehran Asian Games and was recognised as Sri Lanka’s fastest sprinter in the 1970s. Over the years, he has also served as coach of numerous internationally acclaimed athletes.

Previously, three nominations had been submitted for the SLA presidency with Sunil Gunawardana (Trackmaster Sports Club), Upali Kumarasiri (Srilak Athletics Club) and Indika Prasanna (Mercantile Athletics Association) in the fray.

The Ministry of Sports had previously postponed the SLA election without setting a date. However, the five-member Athletic Election Committee has now decided to accept nominations until January 12. Registered affiliated sports associations have already been formally notified of this decision.

The election was scheduled four months ago but was postponed due to challenges regarding the composition of the election committee and legal questions raised by certain candidates. In response, the Ministry of Sports and the Department of Sports Development nullified those nominations and delayed the election.

To ensure a proper election, a Special General Meeting (SGM) of SLA has been convened and a newly appointed election committee has been tasked with calling for nominations under the updated sports regulations.

Out of 39 registered affiliated associations, three—from Mullaitivu, Ampara, and Kilinochchi—were confirmed inactive and their voting rights have been annulled. Consequently, the total number of district associations eligible to vote has been set at 36.

The newly appointed SLA Election Committee will be chaired by retired Court of Appeal Judge Lalith U. Jayasuriya. The other members are retired High Court Judge D.A. Ruwan Pathirana, Additional Secretary to the Ministry of Sports Sumith Shantha, retired Additional Secretary Buddhika Weragoda, and retired Deputy Director (Planning) of the Ministry of Sports Deepal Liyanarachchi.