Major amendments proposed to Sports Act

Former Chairperson of Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), MP Hassan Latheef | Photo: Nishan Ali

Male’, Maldives – Chairperson of Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and Henveiru east constituency MP Hassan Latheef has proposed major amendments to the Sports Act of 2015.

The former Youth Minister, MP Hassan Latheef tweeted today stating that he had submitted the amendment to the parliament so that this bill would address major concerns of the sports sector which have been brought up by the players and experts in the sector.

MP Hassan Latheef said that the purpose of the bill was to eliminate the overlapping areas and conflicts which have been arising between different sports institutions and to create a transparent and democratic system through which these institutions can be managed better than now.

In addition to this, the bill also includes changes to the sports associations elections. MP Hassan Latheef said that this bill would facilitate to make elections of associations more transparent and also that the bill would clearly define the powers of the sports ministry. The bill would also a machanism of sustainable management of sports facilities when they are build and also lower the burden on the state budget when developing and managing such facilities.

While the bill has been submited today, recent cases of management issues and electoral issues of some associations have ended up in courts over disputes which could not be resolved by the institutions which oversee the associations. Due to some of these cases, international organisations have warned Maldives of suspensions and other actions. MP Hassan Latheef has said that the new amendments to the current Sports Act would bring a solution to these existing loopholes in the Act.