The Colombo Gymkhana Club is a

social club A social club or social organization may be a group of people or the place where they meet, generally formed around a common interest, occupation or activity with in an organizational association known as a Club (organization), club. Exampl ...

for men in

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

. It also owns and administers the

Colombo Cricket Club The Colombo Cricket Club (CCC) is a first-class cricket club in Sri Lanka. It is the oldest in the country, having been formed in 1863, and is headquartered at 31 Maitland Crescent, Colombo 7, close to the headquarters of Sri Lanka Cricket. Hi ...

, 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

(established informally in 1832; formally in 1863), the Colombo Hockey and Football Club (established in 1892), and the Queen's Club ( squash and

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

; established in 1899). Until 1964, the social club was exclusive to Europeans (the cricket club having had a similar policy until 1962)- 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: *

: Travis Fernando (1971) * CH&FC, rugby: Bryan Baptist (1971) * CH&FC,

hockey ''Hockey'' is a family of List of stick sports, stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, ...

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

S. Gajendran (1972)

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 Breach of contract is a legal cause of action and a type of civil wrong, in which a binding agreement or bargained-for exchange is not honored by one or more of the parties to the contract by non-performance or interference with the other part ...

through violation of the club constitution and the club's land lease agreement with the government, also alleging nepotism and corruption. 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.

References

{{Authority control Sport in Colombo 1863 establishments in Ceylon Clubs and societies in Sri Lanka Organizations established in 1863 Men in Sri Lanka Gentlemen's clubs in Sri Lanka Buildings and structures in Sri Lanka by type Tennis venues in Sri Lanka