Donal Indrawansa, the Vice President of the Sri Lanka Wrestling Association, who was the manager of the Sri Lankan wrestling team that went to participate in the World Wrestling Championships in Norway, has fled after leaving his team there alone.
The five-member Sri Lankan wrestling team left Sri Lanka on the 30th to participate in the World Championships in Norway. At the airport that day, the President of the Wrestling Association Sarath Hewawitharana complained to the sports authorities that the athletes had not received anything from the Ministry of Sports and that at least no sponsor had been found.
Athletes participated in the tournament by paying an entrance fee to the tournament organizers. They also initially complained that the banks would not issue dollars to pay the money. Later, the Ministry of Sports intervened and resolved the issue.
Some of the players found sponsors for the trip and left for Norway while other players left at their expense. The President of the Wrestling Association said that the trip was aimed at gaining experience rather than a victory and that the upcoming Asian Games were his goal.
The team that went to Norway with such anticipation experienced not only the game but also the manager taking their money and fleeing. He had also taken the money to spend on PCR tests which has to be done before coming to SL and it caused great inconvenience to the players. They had to stay in the country for a few days as their visas had expired and they had sought help from the Sri Lankan Embassy in Norway. The wrestlers arrived in Sri Lanka yesterday after the Sri Lanka Wrestling Association transferred the money to Norway under the coordination of the Embassy.
The fugitive manager is a resident of Gampaha and was appointed as the Vice President of the Wrestling Association in January, according to the Wrestling Association. It is said that this is the first tournament participation of this person who was working in a garment factory with a leading international name in the country.
An official of a wrestling association who participated in the tournament told us that several athletes who had participated in an earlier tournament in Australia were also preparing to flee but the association was able to defend the country’s reputation without giving in to that attempt.
Donald was not the first member of the sports association participating in international competitions to flee, bringing disrepute to the country. In the early nineties, three wrestlers escaped from a wrestling tournament in Japan. At that time the international media had reported about this escape and it was a controversial event in the country at that time. There was even an investigation into the matter and it was revealed that the athletes who had returned to Sri Lanka after 15 to 20 years of employment had even been appointed by the government as wrestling instructors.
