Two leading wushu national coaches Kapila Sabapathi and Prabath Manuranga together with a former vice president of the Wushu Federation of Sri Lanka (WFSL) Jagath Caldera are continuing their unrelenting campaign to expose the alleged rampant corruption prevailing in the sport.
It came to a head on Friday when WFSL president Manel Dharmakeerthie and his associates in the executive committee were found in an inebriated state when Sabapathi and Manuranga presented themselves for a scheduled disciplinary committee at the Torrington Square office of the federation in the evening.
Manuranga, an 18-time national champion and the only wushu Olympian from Sri Lanka at the 2008 Beijing Games and gold medallist at the Lusofonia Games, was suspended as junior national coach by the WFSL in December, while Sabapathi, a Grade A international referee and judge and Sanda national coach for 12 years, was suspended in January.
Both coaches were not only taken to task by Dharmakeerthie for questioning the frauds taking place but even lost their jobs and sources of income after being virtually blacklisted in Facebook and suspended without a charge sheet or inquiry which was only held last month.
Faced with threats to sign some confessions, the two coaches had lodged a complaint with the Cinnamon Gardens Police who summoned the WFSL officials concerned but they had sent two lawyers instead and had agreed to come tomorrow for the Police inquiry.
Prior to this incident, the duo had addressed a letter to Ronnie Ibrahim, Coordinating Secretary to the Sports Ministry, with copies to Amal Edirisooriya, Director General of the Department of Sports Development and Sheila de Saram, head of National Sports Association, making a raft of allegations against the malpractices of the Wushu federation.
Among the allegations were misleading Sports Ministry officials by holding the Annual General Meeting via zoom technology last year without the participation of the entire membership and mismanagement of Ministry funds. Jagath Caldera, Chief Instructor of the Sri Lanka Jeet Kune Do Association, which is affiliated to WFSL, has alleged that this year’s election of office-bearers for the federation was held fraudulently.
The audited Annual Accounts have to be circulated 14 days before the AGM which was scheduled for May 27 but some members had not received it. On top of that, some members were informed that the AGM would be held via zoom technology but a physical meeting was held as usual depriving many members of participating in the meeting. It has also been pointed out in the letter to Ibrahim that only 32 of the 61 members affiliated to the WFSL were present at the May 27 AGM while those who were against Dharmakeerthie were kept out deliberately by informing them the previous day that the meeting would be held virtually.
“To my knowledge, Sri Lanka Strong Fighting Wushu School, Sri Lanka Traditional Wushu Association, Shaolin Shadow Wushu Martial Arts Association, Sanda Association and Little Dragon Chinese Martial Art Association, were deprived of their right to participate in the AGM,” said Jagath Caldera, a founder member of WFSL and vociferous critic of the incumbent president Dharmakeerthie who is running the sport like his personal fiefdom for over two decades.
Together with disgruntled past officials of the Karate-do and Muay Thai federations, Caldera featured in a Galle Face-style protest near the Sports Ministry last month seeking justice. “The worst thing is that he has taken allegations of corruption to a different level by abusing his position to survive in office with the help of politicians and ministry officials. We have reported him to several Sports Ministers and there are files stacked up against him but he seems to be above the law,” said Caldera.