Colombo Gymkhana Club
{{Short description|Social club for men in Colombo, Sri Lanka}}
{{Infobox organization
| name = The Colombo Gymkhana Club
| native_name =
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| image =
| caption =
| logo = Colombo Cricket Club logo1.png
| logo_size = 150px
| abbreviation = CGC
| predecessor = The Colombo Club (1832)
| merged =
| successor =
| formation =
| founder =
| founding_location = Galle Face Green
| purpose = Traditional Gentlemen's Club
| headquarters =
| location = 31 Maitland Crescent,
Colombo 7
| coords = {{coord|6.908676|79.865711|display=inline}}
| leader_title = Chairman
| leader_name = Shammi Silva
| leader_title2 = Secretary
| leader_name2 = Ashan Welagedara
| leader_title3 =
| leader_name3 =
| leader_title4 =
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| board_of_directors =
| key_people = Bernard Russell Kerkoven (Vice Chairman) Kirthsiri de Silva (Treasurer)
| subsidiaries = Colombo Cricket Club
Colombo Hockey and Football Club
Queen's Club
| budget =
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| website = {{URL|http://gymkhanaclub.lk}}
| formerly =
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}}
The Colombo Gymkhana Club is a social club for men in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It also owns and administers the Colombo Cricket Club, the Colombo Hockey and Football Club
and the Queen's Club, as well as the Colombo Cricket Club Ground.
History
Established in 1863, it was a successor to the original Colombo Club (established in the early 1800s), and by 1899 administered five different sports via their ownership/establishment of the Colombo Cricket Club (established informally in 1832; formally in 1863), the Colombo Hockey and Football Club (established in 1892), and the Queen's Club (squash and tennis; established in 1899).{{cite web|title=The 'Gymkhana' For All Reasons Celebrates {{as written|I|ts' [sic]}} 150 Year Rhapsody|url=http://serendib.btoptions.lk/article.php?issue=46&id=1178|website=Serendib|publisher=Serendib Magazine/SriLankan Airlines|access-date=31 August 2017|language=English|date=October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170831131907if_/http://serendib.btoptions.lk/article.php?issue=46&id=1178 |archive-date=August 31, 2017}}{{cite news|last1=Pathiravithana|first1=S.R.|title=CHOGM, CCC and the cricket legacy|url=http://www.sundaytimes.lk/131110/sports/chogm-ccc-and-the-cricket-legacy-68659.html|access-date=31 August 2017|agency=The Sunday Times Sri Lanka|publisher=SundayTimes.lk|date=10 November 2013}}{{cite book|last1=Mangan|first1=J.A.|editor1-last=Hong|editor1-first=Fan|editor2-last=Mangan|editor2-first=J.A.|title=Sport in Asian Society: Past and present|date=2005|publisher=Taylor & Francis e-Library|isbn=0-203-49742-2|chapter=Imperial Origins: Christian Manliness, Moral Imperatives and Pre-Sri Lankan Playing Fields- Beginnings}}
Until 1964, the social club was exclusive to Europeans{{cite web|title=About the Colombo Gymkhana Club|url=http://gymkhanaclub.lk|website=GymkhanaClub.lk|publisher=The Colombo Gymkhana Club|access-date=31 August 2017}} (the cricket club having had a similar policy until 1962{{cite book|last1=Gunawardena|first1=Charles|title=Encyclopedia of Sri Lanka|date=2005|publisher=Sterling Publishers|location=New Delhi|isbn=9781932705485|page=94|edition=2nd}})- the first Sri Lankan Chairman of the Gymkhana Club was P.S.C. Fernando, while the sporting clubs saw their first local captains in the 1970s:
Controversy
In November 2016, members of the club filed lawsuits against the chairman, Shammi Silva, and treasurer, Kapila Ranasinghe, for breach of trust and breach of contract through violation of the club constitution and the club's land lease agreement with the government, also alleging nepotism and corruption.{{cite news|last1=Kannangara|first1=Nirmala|title=Scandal Behind Gymkhana Club Deal|url=http://www.thesundayleader.lk/2016/11/06/scandal-behind-gymkhana-club-deal/|access-date=31 August 2017|agency=Sunday Leader Sri Lanka|publisher=TheSundayLeader.lk}}{{cite news|title=Gymkhana set to rob government|url=http://www.dailymirror.lk/article/Gymkhana-set-to-rob-government-119020.html|access-date=31 August 2017|agency=Daily Mirror Sri Lanka|publisher=Dailymirror.lk|date=11 November 2016}} Silva refuted the allegations against him, alleging in turn that the property development agreement in question had been signed during a previous administration, and that he was only seeking to implement it.
The club was also the subject of an Internal Revenue Department investigation and raid in 2016 for alleged tax evasion.