The Yachting Association is faced with indecision over the conduct of the IODA Asian and Oceania Sailing Championship which they had planned to conduct in December in Sri Lanka.
The championship was postponed a couple of times due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Originally, it was planned to be held from June 6 to 13 with competitors from 14 nations to take part in Trincomalee. Now with the change of the monsoon in December the event is now likely to be held in Galle Face in Colombo.
Officials of the Yachting Association are hopeful that they can meet and discuss the matter with Sports Minister Namal Rajapaksa next week. Before the coronavirus outbreak the Association had received over 140 entries, but now most of the competitors have pulled out and it is being hoped that they will receive at least 60 entries for the event in December.
The host country can field 20 sailors but the other 40 competitors must be found from other countries.
“If the event is postponed further there is no chance we can hold it next year. The championship will be held in Thailand next year and our chance will come again only in 2022. We must try hard to conduct the event in December,” said an official of the Association.