Former president Sri Lanka Athletics Association (AASL) Maj.Gen. Palitha Fernando was elected as a council member of the Asian Athletics Association at the congress and election held yesterday at Wuhan, China. Fernando secured 30 votes and placed fifth among 8 council members of the Asian Association.
Incumbent president Dahlan Al-Hamad of Qatar was unanimously elected as the President, while Du Zhaocai of China was elected unopposed to the post of Senior Vice President.
Fernando who had served many years as head of AASL was barred from contesting as the four year rule introduced by the Ministry prevented him from doing so. Fernando is the only Sri Lankan in the Asian Athletics Association Council now and his term will be from 2015-2019.
Council members: Saad Al-Hiasat (JOR), Mohammad Jumah (KUW), Karim Ibrahim (MAS), Maj Gen(R) Muhammad Akram Sahi (PAK), Maj Gen W. Palitha P. Fernando (SRI), Ching Cheng Wang (TPE), Nasser Sultan A.S. AL-Maamari (UAE), Hoang Manh Cuong (VIE)
Council members (Female): Ruqaya Manssor Ebrahim Al-Ghasara (Bahrain) Mala Sakonhninhom (Laos)
Vice Presidents: Dr. Lalit Bhanot (IND), Dr Talib F. Al-Saffar (IRQ), Alexey Kondrat (KAZ), Philip Ella Juico (PHI) and Eng. Suhail Q. Al-Zawawi (KSA)