Asian-German Sports Exchange Programme

The Asian-German Sports Exchange Programme, commonly abbreviated AGSEP, is a development-sector nongovernmental organisation associated with sports diplomacy, intercultural exchange and social development in Sri Lanka. Although its name emphasizes the Asian-German relationship, the organisation’s activities have extended across Sri Lanka and involved sporting and educational links with Germany, other European countries and Asian countries. Its principal base is in Marawila in western Sri Lanka, and it has maintained a partner office in Essen, Germany. AGSEP began in 1989, when German social education worker Dr. Dietmar Döring was serving as national coach of Sri Lanka’s table-tennis team. Döring saw competitive and participatory sport as a practical way to bring people together during a period marked by Sri Lanka’s prolonged civil conflict. The organisation’s model treats sporting events as neutral meeting places where participants can develop trust, respect and familiarity across ethnic, religious and cultural divisions. Its programmes have involved Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim communities and have sought to expose young people to peers from other communities through shared activities rather than formal political negotiation alone. The organisation has worked with internship students from German universities, including students in economics, political science, social science, engineering, sport and related disciplines. These students have participated in development and exchange activities in Asia, while AGSEP has also supported contact between Sri Lankan institutions and European sporting groups. Its work therefore combines sports programming with a broader educational and practical exchange function. Among the activities associated with AGSEP are international team exchanges, integrative sports encounters, the International Run for Peace and International Master Games in Sri Lanka. The Master Games have brought together adult competitors from Sri Lanka, Germany, other European states and a wide range of Asian countries for events including table tennis, badminton, football, handball and beach soccer. Reported host locations have included Negombo, Kandy, Trincomalee, Galle, Marawila, Puttalam and Hambantota. These events have served both recreational and relationship-building purposes, allowing participants from different backgrounds to interact in a structured but informal setting. AGSEP has also undertaken humanitarian work. Following the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, it organised a relief mission involving the direct importation and distribution of medicines from Germany to affected areas. This expanded the organisation’s public role beyond sports and demonstrated its use of international contacts for emergency assistance. The organisation has additionally been described as a government-associated organisation because of consultancy links with Sri Lankan ministries responsible for disaster relief and rehabilitation and district development; this designation does not make it a government department. AGSEP’s stated philosophy is that sport can cross social, ethnic, religious and cultural boundaries. Its programme logic places emphasis on participation, mutual recognition and repeated personal contact. It is therefore best understood as a specialist exchange and development organisation rather than a conventional sports team, league, federation or consumer-facing brand. Publicly available material provides limited information about its current scale, funding, staffing and recent programme continuity, so its present operational status and financial profile require further verification.

AGSEP was founded in 1989 by German social education worker Dr. Dietmar Döring while he was working as the national coach of Sri Lanka’s table-tennis team. Its creation reflected an effort to use sport as a bridge in a country affected by sustained conflict and deep divisions among Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim communities. Rather than treating sport only as competition, Döring and the organisation framed it as a neutral social environment in which participants could meet, cooperate and develop respect through direct experience. From its early work, AGSEP promoted international exchanges between Sri Lankan and European sports teams. The organisation’s integrative events were designed in cooperation with members of Sri Lanka’s principal ethnic communities and sought to make shared participation more important than communal separation. The underlying approach was that children and adults could form relationships more easily through games and tournaments, where collaboration and fair play created common ground, than through abstract appeals for reconciliation. The programme later developed a broader educational and development role. AGSEP worked with internship students from German universities, including students studying economics, political science, social sciences, engineering and sport. These placements connected academic learning with practical experience in Asia and gave the organisation an additional channel for linking Sri Lankan projects with German institutions and volunteers. The organisation has been described as operating in the development sector and as maintaining a partner office in Essen, while its Sri Lankan base has been located in Marawila. Its sports portfolio included international team visits and integrative encounters as well as larger public events. The International Run for Peace was intended to associate mass participation and international visibility with the search for peace in Sri Lanka. AGSEP also organised International Master Games, in which players generally described as being between 30 and 70 years old competed in several sports. Reported disciplines included table tennis, badminton, football, handball and beach soccer. The events were associated with locations including Negombo, Kandy, Trincomalee, Galle, Marawila, Puttalam and Hambantota and attracted teams from Europe, Asia and Canada. The organisation’s humanitarian profile became especially visible after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. AGSEP undertook a relief mission that brought medicines directly from Germany for distribution in tsunami-affected parts of Sri Lanka. This work showed how its cross-border relationships could be used for emergency response as well as sporting exchange. Public descriptions also connect AGSEP with consultancy or government-associated status involving Sri Lankan ministries responsible for disaster relief and rehabilitation and district development. AGSEP’s activities have been presented as part of a wider philosophy in which sport transcends social, cultural, ethnic and religious boundaries. Its work combines exchange visits, internships, sports events, peace initiatives and relief assistance. The available public record does not provide a fully documented chronology of all events, nor does it establish detailed information about current leadership beyond Döring, funding, legal structure or the scale of present operations. Those matters should be verified through organisational records or an official current website before being treated as settled facts.

• 2004

  Tsunami relief mission

  [1]Asian-German Sports Exchange Programen.wikipedia.org

  AGSEP organised a Germany-to-Sri Lanka medical relief operation after the Indian Ocean tsunami and distributed medicines in affected areas.

• 1989

  Programme founded

  [1]Asian-German Sports Exchange Programen.wikipedia.org

  Dr. Dietmar Döring founded AGSEP while serving as national coach of Sri Lanka’s table-tennis team, establishing sport as the organisation’s principal vehicle for international exchange and community integration.

• International peace and masters events

  [1]Asian-German Sports Exchange Programen.wikipedia.org

  The organisation developed recurring or planned initiatives including the International Run for Peace and International Master Games involving Sri Lankan, European and Asian participants.

A sports-diplomacy and development organisation that uses international competition, student exchange and humanitarian cooperation to build relationships across Sri Lanka’s ethnic communities and between Sri Lanka, Germany and wider international networks.

• Community sports and peacebuilding · 1989

  Integrative sport encounters

  Sporting activities designed to bring Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim participants into shared settings. The emphasis is on direct contact, cooperation, respect and participation, with sport used as a practical bridge across ethnic, religious and social divisions in Sri Lanka.

• Peace and public participation event

  International Run for Peace

  An international running initiative organised to associate public sporting participation with peacebuilding in Sri Lanka. It used an accessible mass-sport format to communicate the organisation’s reconciliation objectives and attract participants beyond formal team competitions.

• International masters sports tournament

  International Master Games in Sri Lanka

  A multi-sport event for adult competitors, reported as including players from roughly 30 to 70 years old. Listed disciplines include table tennis, badminton, football, handball and beach soccer, with events connected to several Sri Lankan cities and participation from European, Asian and Canadian teams.

• International education and development exchange

  German university internships

  Internship placements for students from German universities in fields such as economics, political science, social science, engineering and sport. The placements connect academic study with practical experience in Sri Lankan and wider Asian development settings.

• Humanitarian relief · 2004

  Tsunami medical relief mission

  A post-tsunami relief operation that used AGSEP’s German connections to procure medicines and distribute them in areas of Sri Lanka affected by the 2004 disaster.

• 2004Post-tsunami medical relief mission

  Germany · Sri Lanka

  AGSEP coordinated the movement of medicines from Germany to tsunami-affected Sri Lankan communities for emergency distribution.

  Source
• International Run for Peace

  Sri Lanka · International

  A peace-oriented running event intended to promote reconciliation and a lasting settlement in conflict-affected Sri Lanka through international participation and public sport.

  Source
• International Master Games in Sri Lanka

  Sri Lanka · Germany · Europe · Asia · Canada

  A multi-sport masters programme involving international teams and competitions in locations including Negombo, Kandy, Trincomalee, Galle, Marawila, Puttalam and Hambantota.

  Source

1. 1Asian-German Sports Exchange Programen.wikipedia.org