Representatives from the Government of Sri Lanka have met with a delegation from the Olympic Movement here in the latest of a series of discussions aimed at ensuring the independence of National Olympic Committees around the world.

The meeting comes after a law proposed in 2013 which imposed restrictions on sporting bodies, including barring high-ranking officials from standing for re-election.

A similar meeting was held with officials from Kuwait, in which a deadline of October 27 was given for the Gulf country to make the necessary changes to a proposed new sports law in order to avoid a resumption of a ban from the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Unlike Kuwait, Sri Lanka has not been suspended from the IOC or other bodies in the past but was warned in April by IOC autonomy tsar Patrick Hickey that their proposed law "goes against the principles and rules of the Olympic Movement and our previous agreements".

Representatives from the IOC, as well as the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations, the Association of National Olympic Committees and the Olympic Council of Asia met with a Sri Lanka group led by Sports Minister Dayasiri Jayasekara and the National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka.

Reviewing progress made in the revision of the sports legislation was the aim of the meeting, as well as as "reaching mutual understanding to ensure the legislation is compatible with the basic principles and rules that govern the Olympic Movement".

"All parties agreed to fully respect and comply with the principles and rules of the Olympic Charter and the statutes of the International Federations," the IOC claimed afterwards.

It was also agreed that the revision process for the sports legislation will be completed by the end of this year, with a failure to meet this presumably risking Sri Lanka's IOC membership.

A lack of automony and constructive relations between the Sports Ministry and the NOC were cited as one of the reasons earlier this year for the OCA stripping Sri Lanka of its hosting rights of the 2017 Asian Youth Games.

It was originally meant to be held in the coastal city of Hambantota - which had also bid unsuccessfully for the 2018 Commonwealth Games - but had been shifted to capital Colombo last year before being removed from the country completely.

Indonesian capital Jakarta has since been awarded the event in its place.

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Sport and Youth Affairs minister Darryl Smith has apologised to all young people for the negativity in sport today and called on the local fraternity to cleanse the varied ills at home.

Speaking at the Secondary School Cricket League North Zone Awards at the Hasely Crawford Stadium on Sunday, the minister said sport was going through extreme turmoil, not just locally but across the world. “It’s not just in the ministry of Sport, but with West Indies cricket, with Fifa, every single day is some form of embarrassment. And you know what? Most of it is not the fans. Most of it is not the players or the athletes. It’s the coaches, the ministers, the PS, (permanent secretaries), the administrators.”

Smith said he captained a number of team successfully over the years and now considers himself the captain of sport in T&T. “I am promising you here today that I will not let you down, I will lead by example. It will have ethics, it will have transparency, but most of all it will have a minister who will not be trying to select teams in varies NGBs (national governing bodies). I always say leave the stars to the astronomers and what I have seen here tonight, I think cricket at the secondary school level in the north zone is in good hands.”

Smith said the culture of making decisions based on race will be outlawed from his ministry. “In school, you always learn that the quickest way from point ‘A’ to point ‘B’ is a straight line, but sometimes in politics, politicians tend to deviate from that. From the time you start to do that, you go off course and make wrong decisions.”

Smith added, “You are going to be seeing a lot of improvements with regard to the ministry. I am not an expert. I am going to need advice from people. You are going to get a minister that listens. The time has come for decisions intended to benefit sport to be made using empirical evidence and not using the breeze. We need to make decisions based on proper data collection. We make decisions because it feels good or because it’s the in-thing. We need to collect data in sport: in cricket at secondary schools, look at it analyse it and made decisions so we could get the best bang for our buck.”

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T&T beach volleyballers Malika Davidson, left, and Ayana Dyette. Top T&T men’s beach volleyball pair Fabien Whitfield and Daneil Williams made it 12 straight local tournaments wins on the trot when they topped the second T&T Volleyball Federation national team selection qualifiers for the second round of NORCECA Continental Olympic Qualifiers on Monday night.

Following their victory in the eight-team first set of qualifiers a week ago with a 6-0 record, Whitfield and Williams again played unbeaten at the National Beach Volleyball Developmental Centre in Saith Park, Chaguanas, this time ending with a 3-0 record against the three other pairs that showed up.

With the matches being contested on a one set basis and first to 25 points, Whitfield and Williams, who claimed a second ever bronze medal finish on the NORCECA Tour when they placed third at the fifth stop of the Hickory Point Beach Sand Volleyball Complex in Tavares, Florida last month, brushed aside Hakeem Hernandez and Stephon Valley 25-6, Kareem Thomas and Tevin Edwards 25-15 and then battled past main rivals, Christian Francois and Kevin Rivers, 25-20.

Francois and Rivers took second with victories over Thomas and Edwards 25-23, and Hernandez and Valley 25-16. In the other match to avoid a 0-3 record, Thomas and Edwards defeated Hernandez and Valley 25-14.

Earlier in the semifinals, Whitfield and Williams overcame first round T&T Olympic qualifiers team-mates Josiah Abraham Eccles and Tevin Joseph 21-15 while Francois and Rivers battled past Thomas/Edwards 21-18.

Williams and Whitfield began the eight-team tournament by playing unbeaten in their four-team Pool A round-robin qualifiers with wins over Thomas/Edwards  21-19; Adriel Roberts/Hakeem Hernandez 21-6 and Marcus Moore and Nathaniel Noreiga 21-11 before earning a default quarterfinal win over David Thomas Jr and Colin Bernard

21-0.

In the other Pool B, Francois and Rivers were equally as impressive by disposing off youngsters Josima Timothy/Dante Stewart by default (21-0); Thomas Jr/Bernard 21-15 and Eccles/Joseph 21-14 in the pool decider followed by a 21-12 defeat of  Roberts/Hernandez in their quarterfinal.

Thomas and Edwards overcame Timothy/Stewart 21-15 while Eccles/Joseph ousted Moore/Noreiga 21-14.

The third and final qualifying tournament will be held next week, at the end of which the top two teams will be selected to represent T&T in the second round of Olympic Qualifiers carded for St Lucia later this year.

Today, the top T&T men’s pair leave for the St Lucia where they will contest the sixth stop of this year’s Norceca Beach Circuit.

Pan American Games participants, Ayana Dyette and Malika Davidson secured yet another win when the Women’s qualifying Tournament took place at Chaguanas also on Monday night.

With only three teams registered Dyette and Davidson, first year team-mates overcame Elki Phillip and Shenelle Gordon 21-18, 21-8, and Apphia Glasgow and La Teisha Joseph 21-14, 21-18 to end 2-0.

Josepht and Glasgow got second with a 1-1 mark via their 21-7, 21-10 defeat of Phillip/Gordon.

Today, Dyette/Davidson and Phillip/Gordon will also leave for St Lucia where they will contest the sixth stop of this year’s Norceca Beach Circuit.

The second qualifying event will be held at the same venue on Monday, and the third and final, next Thursday, also at Chaguanas at the end of which the top two teams will represent T&T at the second round of Women's Olympic Qualifiers carded for Jamaica.

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This country’s Soca Warriors were held to a dull 0-0 by visiting Nicaragua in their final friendly encounter before kicking off its 2018 Concacaf Semifinal Round World Cup Group C qualifying campaign away to Guatemala on November 13, before returning home for clash with USA on November 17.

Athletes seeking to raise funding for  Olympic Games qualification without the knowledge and expressed permission of the TTOC and the relevant National Sport Organisation will be called in by the TTOC .
Members of the public and Corporate entities in receipt of solicitations for Olympic related activities are advised  to ensure that a request is legitimate.
The TTOC has sole and exclusive authority for the Olympic Games. Final
Selection for the Olympic Games is the remit of the TTOC.
The selection policy is guided by the IOC and International Federations agreed qualification standards along with the process agreed to between the TTOC and the respective National Sport Organisations.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach joined youngsters from Lausanne and other Swiss regions in participating in a range of activities to mark Olympic Week.

The initiative, established by the Olympic Museum based in the Swiss city, offers 40 free sporting and cultural activities to eight to 15-year-olds and their families.

The event is now in its 35th year and the 2014 edition reportedly attracted around 6,500 participants.

Bach took part in a range of sports, including basketball and korfball, and he also interacted with members of the public during his appearance.

Several of the sports on the Summer Olympic programme will be exhibited during the week, such as archery, athletics, badminton, basketball, boxing, fencing, gymnastics, golf, handball, judo, rowing, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis and weightlifting.

Participants can also take part in biathlon and bobsleigh, two sports on the Winter Olympic programme, as well as billiards, climbing, orienteering and roller sports, which are all recognised by the IOC.

Attendees will also get the chance to try out non-recognised sports such as broomball, cheerleading, diabolo, American football, Nordic walking, inline hockey and slackline, similar to rope walking.

These activities will all continue throughout Olympic Week, which is due to conclude on Thursday (October 15).

Those who attend the event in Lausanne, considered the worldwide capital of the Olympic Movement, will also get the chance to meet an athlete and get involved in sessions outside of sport, such as road prevention and a Get Active! Interactive exhibition aimed at increasing the amount of exercise young people do.

Since the opening of the Olympic Museum in 1993, Olympic Week has grown each year and now offers a host of sporting activities to young people free of charge.

It was originally purely a presentation of Lausanne’s various sports clubs when it was first set up in 1980.

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