Sports Ministry to allocate 42 million for volleyball

Amal Edirisuriya, Director General, Department of Sports Development and A.S. Nalaka, Secretary, SLVB exchanging documents after the signing of the MoU

By Susil Premalal

The Sports Ministry has decided to allocate a sum of LKR 42 million to the Sri Lanka Volleyball Federation (SLVB) for indoor and beach volleyball. This was decided after the National Sports Council (NSC) identified volleyball as a sport in which Sri Lanka can win on the international arena. Volleyball has been recognised as the national sport and has a history of over 100 years.

The Sports Ministry has given these funds for the benefit of volleyball players and to improve the facilities required for both indoor and beach volleyball. 

The SLVB and the Department of Sports Development of the ministry signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in this regard. The MoU signing took place in the presence of Sports Minister Namal Rajapaksa at Volleyball House, Galle between Amal Edirisuriya, Director General, Department of Sports Development and A.S. Nalaka, Secretary, SLVB.

According to the MoU, indoor men’s volleyball will get LKR 27,391,800 while LKR 16,600,200 will be allocated for men’s and women’s beach volleyball. These funds will be disbursed in instalments by the Sports Ministry in future. 
One of the main objective of the initiative is to improve Sri Lanka’s volleyball ranking in Asia. Sports Minister Rajapaksa has also urged the SLVB to make arrangement to host an international volleyball tournament in Sri Lanka once the COVID-19 situation returns to normal.

Meanwhile, on the advice of the Mahela Jayawardene-led NSC, the Sports Ministry plans to channel their resources to five sports identified as having the potential to win at international level. Apart from volleyball, the others are tennis, karate, swimming and shooting with the ministry expected to sign MoU’s with the respective associations in the near future.