All about Federations: Karate-Do could be a Lankan Eldorado in sport

Some may call it a frog in the well or someone else may describe it more vividly as a frog who has been pushed into a deep well. Yet, the bizarre dilemma and conundrum of Karate-Do is as ironic in the ilk of another Harrison Ford drama – the Indiana Jones – they meander into a quagmire of unfulfilled dreams in spite of their brawn and men.

Yet the General Secretary of the Karate-Do Federation of Sri Lanka Keerthi Kumara Basnayake is adamant that they do have the wherewithal of reaching their own Eldorado given the right opportunities.

The revelation was more than a drop of a brick.  Basnayake claims they do have the biggest of army in numbers running into more than 600,000 active Karateka’s from the 10300 schools, plus the others attached in clubs and the armed forces – the numbers are huge but, where do they hit ship that sunk the Titanic?

Initially GoodSport queried as to how Karate-Do survived the Covid-19 chop which halted the entire globe. Basnayake explained, “We did not bow down to the Covid-19 threat. We even held some competitions when the entire house was closed. We did so by conducting online tournaments and we called it ‘E-Kata’. We are proud say that we pioneered that concept. Taking the cue, we know so many other Federations followed suit. Besides, even during the height of the pandemic we maintained the national pool culminating in a selection process. Then we worked towards forming the Karate High Performance squad with the participation of around 400-500 players -this exercise was done to select six Karateka’s. That process consumed five days of intense competition. At that point I was of the view that our players were well on par with the Asian standards.”

During that time, the Karate-Do Federation employed an Iranian coach and were moving up. He was certainly impressed with the Lankan standards; he especially named six players both men and women as potential medal prospects.  However, the episode ended with the coach at the end of his contract taking the six players along with him to Dubai and employing them as professional Karateka’s in the club circuit. Basnayake added “We could not disagree with the Iranian Coach because as a Federation were not in a position to provide them with employment with equal remuneration.  Yes, it was a frustrating situation, but, we just had to bite the dust and grin”.

GoodSport then quizzed as, “With such solid nursery and a structure, why are we not producing Medal winning material?”

The Karate-Do General Secretary answered in this manner - “We are stuck in this gumball because we do not have sufficient funds to send our players to take part at international competitions. We may be able to make it to one international completion per year. But, when it comes to the next competition it may be another “who will make it to the travelling team”. All depends upon who could find the necessary funds to travel on that occasion.

“The prime reason is the Ministry of Sports does not make monetary allocations for these sports in a proper manner. Three months ago we travelled overseas for a Junior Championship - there were six of them. Now next October it will be the Asian Games and it is stipulated they will include two athletes. Then the Asian Championships are to be held in July, there we can include twenty prospective players.  But, we cannot take part in the Asian Championship for the want of money. Even the Ministry will not make any allocations for that. Besides, finding a sponsor for it is well-neigh impossible. I think the Ministry of Sport should be more flexible on such opportunities. The bottom-line is that the government should delve in and find out who could be the prospective medal winners for the country. The most important thing here is medals to the country.”

The next question we asked was on the just concluded Karate-Do nationals? He said “There are two types of championships. There is a championship where they go through the provinces and the districts. We consider this also as a national championship. Besides that, there are 462 clubs - they also have championships of their own. This is a grade one tournament and NOC SL Treasurer Gamini Jayasinghe was the Chief Guest at this championship.  Also it was an open ended tournament where anyone could take part. This tournament is a preamble for international tournaments. Yet, the irony is that if there are prospective players with international potential, they cannot fulfil their aims for the want of necessary funds. This is the vicious circle and the reality of Karate today.”

GoodSport took time to query about their current and future plans – a proper plan for the next Asian Games to the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

Basnayake said, “I think this problem is common to the South Asian region barring India. India has the necessary funds to sustain and develop their game. We have problems in taking part in vital tournaments and as a result we do not get a ranking. Without a ranking we do not get selected for the Olympics or such important tournaments. We do not even have the funds even to take part in qualifying tournaments.”

Finally, we asked, “With such a solid background of 600,000 school level players and players from 462 clubs – where do they go? What do they get by involving in such as Karate-Do?”

He said, “The only hope that could guide them is gainful local employment. Our players do not have the funds to move up internationally because of funds. But locally, when they get involved in tournaments we provide them with certificates and points. For instance, the last government employed 3500 sports teachers and over a quarter in that lot came from Karate. Besides, from the 10,000 schools they have employment to at least 5,000 coaches. Besides some start their Karate schools. They also have openings in the armed forces and there are 2000 to 3000 attached to that.”

Comparatively with proper planning and proper vision Karate could be another Eldorado in sports. But, the Karate officialdom feels the pressure of a spoke-in-the-wheel courtesy the Ministry of Sports. Basnayake says there are heaps of monsters under the bed. He claims there are tons of audit queries against Karate-Do and yet, sheet that lay on is white and clean. Still the poser remains unresolved and the Ministry thinks Karate is Wong Jack-man of Bruce Lee fame.