Sports Minister Namal Rajapaksa wants more books published on sports and athletes as he graced the inaugural Sabuddhi Sports Literature Awards held at the auditorium of the Sports Ministry last week.
“We have produced athletes from rural areas in the country to reach international standards, but what we have forgotten is that we don’t have enough books and literature on athletes”, said Minister Rajapaksa.
“We need to have more knowledge on athletes and give the sportsman and sportsman better knowledge for the future. So this type of Sports Literature Awards can encourage our sports journalists who are performing their duties under many constraints tom provide this platform for the athletes”.
Sri Lanka Telecom Mobitel Chairman Rohan Fernando who also graced the occasion the country has the finances available to to take sport forward but was was lacking was the manner in which it is done.
“If we will do this we can easily create a good foundation to uplift sports within one year. Sri Lanka Telecom Mobitel has always come forward to promote sports,” said Fernando. Sinhala cricket commentators Palitha Perera and Premasara Epasinghe were the recipients of the Sabuddhi Lifetime Gold Award in recognition of their service to Sri Lanka’s sports that spanned over five decades.
Olympic silver medalist and sprinter Susanthika Jayasinghe also received the Gold Award for her historic triumph in the 2000 Olympics.
Veteran sports journalist Asoka Goonatilleka received the best writer of the year award while ThePapare.com website won the award for the best digital media.