Incumbent sports officials are finding it difficult to keep pace with the transition in the spirit of the newly amended Constitution. I note two incidents from the last week.
The Beijing Olympics was in full swing and the Maldives Swimming Association decides to host their Nationals. The top two swimmers are away. A couple of the more astute sports journalists politely inquired.
The Swimming Association responded by saying they could not find an alternative date. The Athletics President Maizan Ali Maniku observed that Olympic sports, of which swimming is a mandatory event, will be aware of the dates of the Beijing Olympics from seven years back!
Jazeera pursued the issue with the Sports Council. Abdul Razzaq, Director General, Training and Research, at the Sports Ministry responded. Razzaq maintained that hosting the Nationals without the top swimmers leaves the top spots open for lesser swimmers who will in turn be motivated to compete! An appealing logic at the expense of a sport ethic.
The newly sworn Sports Minister Madam Aishath Shiham, the 7th and possibly the last of Gayyoom's sports ministers, was not any less bizarre in her observations.
When asked to comment on the currant court case, Minister Shiham confirmed that these elections will not be annulled. The problem is that this is not an issue within her mandate.
She could have been more tactful by redirecting the journalist to the Registrar of Clubs and Societies at the Ministry of Home Affairs. That's what the law says.
What we are witnessing here is a serious lack of awareness on the part of senior sports executives on issues ranging from ideology to the rule of law.
This definitely is not good news for the Maldivian sports community.
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