"Government gives the budget, Government should be able to make them accountable"

The national sports associations are funded by the government. The state budget, proposed by the government and approved by Parliament, provides funding to sports associations and Olympic committees (including both Special Olympic and Paralympic) each year as part of the Ministry of Sports' budget.

Because of this, experts believed that the law should grant the government the right to hold sports associations accountable.

This was one of the main suggestions by participants in the discussions held during a seminar organised by the Volleyball Association of Maldives seeking stakeholder consultation for the Sports Act.

The purpose of this seminar, which was attended by VAM's exco members, club executives, former players, volleyball referees and technical officials, was to discuss the suggestions to be put forth on behalf of the association.

VAM President Mohammed Latheef said the seminar heard “good” discussions, and said it was one of the largest seminars held by a sports association to submit ideas on the Sports Act.

Participants noted that the government does not have much direct authority to hold associations accountable under the current Sports Act.

“We appreciate the work being done by the Sports Minister and the Sports Commissioner to strengthen the management of the associations. The positive result of that can be seen too," Latheef said.

However, the work would be further strengthened by giving the government direct power to make the associations accountable, he added.

Participants also said the Olympics Committee and other associations should not be treated differently in being held accountable.

"National sports associations and national Olympic committees (including Special Olympics and Paralympics) are budgeted by the government. So, we believe that the Sports Act should have causes that hold associations and the Olympic Committees accountable such that it does not violate the Olympics Charter and international federation policies,” Latheef also said.

That was the majority opinion of the participants at the seminar as well.

Latheef, who is also the vice-president of the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) and president of the Asia Central Zone Association (CAWA), said it was the view of international federations that the government should have authority in promoting and sustaining sports.

"International federations do not object to a system that would hold the national olympic committees and national associations accountable to the government without violating the Olympic Charter," he said.

In the most successful countries in the Olympics, the government has that status within the sports system, he said.

According to him the government should have direct involvement in the running of the associations.

"It is also not against the Olympic Charter. It is against the Olympic Charter when the government appoints a certain person to the positions. If [the person] comes from an electoral process, the opportunity will be available to anyone. It is not against the Olympic Charter," he explained.

The Social Affairs Committee of Parliament decided to give associations the opportunity to submit comments on the Sports Act.

The seminar held at the parliament office that day was a meeting with sports executives to seek views on the bill. At the event, some associations said they had not had the opportunity to submit comments on the bill before. As such, the committee decided to give the associations a week to do so.