Volleyball, branded as the national sport of Sri Lanka, a declaration that even cricket does not have, has been thrown into cold stage and its players disbanded from training and ordered to go home.
The governing body of the sport, the Sri Lanka Volleyball Federation, has decided not to take part in any tournaments conducted by the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) in 2021 which means the national team will not contest as many as eight international competitions in the new year.
Among the eight events are the Asian Women’s Volleyball Championship to be held in China or Thailand from August 29 to September 5 and the Asian Men’s Championship to be held in Japan from September 12 to 19.
The Sri Lanka Volleyball Federation said it was not worth investing in international tournaments
“The cost of participation in two Asian events (men and women) has been estimated at Rs 15 million.
“This includes air tickets and accommodation. Moreover there are additional costs for the upkeep of the national pool and conducting PCR tests for the entire team before their departure.
“We cannot justify participating in the Asian tournaments at such a huge cost,” said an official of the Volleyball Federation who did not wish to be quoted saying he was not authorised to reveal what was happening.
But the Volleyball Federation will go ahead with its usual fanfare at domestic tournaments using lavish sponsorship money from mobile phone service provider Dialog.
They include the Dialog President’s Gold Cup, Munchee Nationals, Super League competition, DSI Super Sports for schoolboys and girls and the Beach National Championships.
Meanwhile the International Military Sports Council (IMSC) has decided to stage the third World Military Council (WMC) Beach Volleyball Games from July 16 to 23, 2021 in Negombo.
The event was earlier scheduled to be held in July but was postponed and is for both men and women.
The IMSC has a membership of 125 countries out of which 32 (16 men and 16 women) will be taking part in this third edition of the WMC Beach Volleyball Tournament and a keen tussle is expected.
As hosts Sri Lanka will be able to field two teams in the competition and qualified to the final-round at the World Military Games held in China last year.
This is the first time that an international beach volleyball tournament is being hosted in Sri Lanka and will be organised by the Defence Services Sports Council which previously conducted the World Military Golf Championship in Trincomalee in 2017