Rs. 100 million for 2022 National Sports Festival

By Susil Premalal

The Treasury has given the Ministry of Sports Rs. 100 million to conduct the National Sports Festival (NSF), and the funds will be utilized to complete last year’s event, Director General of the Department of Sports Development (DSD) Amal Edirisuriya told the Daily Mirror. The NSF was not completed last year, as there were inadequate funds, with only three sports events – cycling, race walking and the marathon – being completed. As it is impossible to hold two NSFs in the same year, the 2023 festival has been cancelled and funds will be utilized to complete the remaining 30 sports, starting from May, Edirisuriya said.

The NSF was last held in 2019 but was cancelled for two consecutive years (2020 and 2021) due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The DSD had planned to hold NSF in 2022, but due to the economic situation in the country at that time, the Ministry of Sports took steps to postpone NSF 30 Sports until 2023.

In the meantime, DSD has also planned to hold the relevant events only at the Colombo Sugathadasa Stadium, Polonnaruwa National Stadium and Matara Kotawila National Stadium, which are under the purview of the Ministry of Sports, to minimize financial expenses.