| Agency Name: | Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs |
| Type: | Ministry |
| Nativename: | Sinhala; Sinhalese: ක්රීඩා හා යෞවන කටයුතු අමාත්යාංශය Tamil: இளைஞர் மற்றும் விளையாட்டுத்துறை அமைச்சு |
| Seal: | Emblem of Sri Lanka.svg |
| Formed: | 1966 |
| Jurisdiction: | Government of Sri Lanka |
| Minister1 Name: | Harin Fernando |
| Minister1 Pfo: | Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs |
| Post: | Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs |
| Body: | Sri Lanka |
| Insignia: | Emblem of Sri Lanka.svg |
| Insigniasize: | 50 |
| Department: | Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs |
| Incumbent: | Harin Fernando |
| Incumbentsince: | 27 November 2023 |
| Appointer: | The President with advice of Prime Minister |
| Appointerpost: | President of Sri Lanka |
| Inaugural: | Kiri Banda Ratnayake |
| Formation: | 1972 |
The Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs[1] (Sinhala; Sinhalese: ක්රීඩා හා යෞවන කටයුතු අමාත්යාංශය; Tamil: இளைஞர் மற்றும் விளையாட்டுத்துறை அமைச்சு) is a ministry in the Government of Sri Lanka whose role is to promote the role of sports in Sri Lankan culture and society.[2] As of 27 November 2023, Harin Fernando is the Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs, an appointment to the Cabinet of Sri Lanka.[3]
The ministry was initially created in 1966 to help bring the varied sports initiatives together as part of the portfolio of the Ministry of Nationalised Services.[4] [5] The first Minister was V. A. Sugathadasa, the first Secretary was Dr. H. S. R. Gunawardena and the first Director was Austin Rajakaruna. In 1970 the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and Sports was established. In 1989 this entity was renamed the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and subsequently in 2000 as the Ministry of Tourism and Sports. In 2004 it was called the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs, in 2007 the Ministry of Sports and Public Recreation of Sports and finally in 2010 the Ministry of Sports.
As of 2022 it is called the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs.
| Name | Portrait | Party | Tenure | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| !align="centre" style="background:; color:white;" | V. A. Sugathadasa | United National Party | 1966 - 1970 | ||
| !align="centre" style="background:; color:white;" | 1972 - 1977 | ||||
| !align="centre" style="background:; color:white;" | 1977 - 1988 | ||||
| !align="centre" style="background:; color:white;" | 1989 - 1993 | ||||
| 1994 - 2001 | |||||
| 2001 | |||||
| 2001 - 2002 | |||||
| 2002 - 8 April 2004 | |||||
| !align="centre" style="background:; color:white;" | 8 April 2004 - 28 January 2007 | ||||
| !align="centre" style="background:; color:white;" | United National Party (D) | 28 January 2007 - 23 April 2010 | |||
| 23 April 2010 - 22 November 2010 | |||||
| Mahindananda Aluthgamage[6] | 22 November 2010 – 12 January 2015 | ||||
| !align="centre" style="background:; color:white;" | 19 January 2015 - 4 September 2015 | ||||
| 4 September 2015 - 12 April 2018 | |||||
| 12 April 2018 - 15 December 2018 | |||||
| 20 December 2018 - 15 November 2019 | |||||
| 22 November 2019 – 12 August 2020 | |||||
| 12 August 2020 – 3 April 2022 | |||||
| 23 May 2022 – 27 November 2023 | |||||
| 27 November 2023 - present | |||||