Development and Sports in Sri Lanka

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the spread of sports markets in Sri Lanka since 1977, transforming the public social provisioning of sports established under the post-independence “national economy” project. The sports consumer culture promoting cricket players in the services sector simultaneously disregard the manufacturing workers in Free Trade Zones (FTZ) producing sports goods and apparels. The “sport and development” focused on elite competitive sports also integrate the military with sports cultures, while neglecting public or state-run school sports. The articulation of “sportive nationalism” reproduces Sinhala-Buddhist able-bodied masculine sports cultures subordinating women and people with disabilities, particularly among the marginalised communities. The media-sport complex focused on entertainment and celebrity cultures coincides with authoritarian “security” state strategies, restraining access to information and freedom of speech while enforcing multiple forms of censorship.