Sri Lanka Schools Football Association (SLSFA) with a new team of officials elected at their Annual general Meeting, held at the beginning of the year, is very much focused to revamp the game which apparently has fallen to a low ebb.

After a disastrous two years of administration the Ministry of Education (sports) initiated to hold fresh elections to throw out the previous regime, which did nothing but held positions without conducting the scheduled tournaments as per their annual football calendar in all age categories. Football undoubtedly the world’s most popular game is in a pathetic state at the grass root level structure, which is now in a spot of bother. The new regime appointed by the MOE headed by Dilruk Jayawardena had met all the stakeholders of the game recently and are in the process of restructuring the entire system while infusing some life to it.

The game which attracted several hundreds of schools has dropped down to a very low level due to the inconsistency of the governing body. The best example is that the under-18 age category which involved around 150 schools island wide has come down to mere 50. The junior tournaments involving under-12 and 14 started with several hindrances and stoppages, which ultimately perished without completing. Shifting the tournament to several locations resulted in most schools pulling out of the tourney. Adding salt to the wound they reduced the playing timings as per their convenience without complying with the rules of the game. Some matches were played 25-minutes each half which ultimately became the laughing stock.

The one and only tournament which came to the limelight was the “Papare” sponsored under-20 tournament, which gave some consolation to the football loving public in the schools arena. Some of the popular tournaments like the “Brazil Cup”, Milo Inter Schools Tournament are a few to be named have perished from their calendar. Due to the inefficiency of those officials, the live wire behind the tournaments, the all important sponsors have pulled out of these tournaments, which is now in trouble waters.

“We are very focused on rejuvenating the game as soon as possible. It is very unfortunate to see the game of football has reached a low ebb, due to poor management of the previous regime for reasons better known to them. But me and my team are really working hard to put things back on track provided we get the prior approval from the concerned authorities. We intend to hold at least the senior age category matches for this year due to lack of time with the outbreak of covid-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, what we can assure the football loving public is that the world's most popular sport will go from strength to strength in Sri Lanka to reach the pinnacle” said Dilruk Jayawardena, President of SLSFA

“We met the National Governing body, the Football Federation officials and discussed the matter with them. We got their directive and the blessing to restart the tournaments. They have shown their interest to assist us in whatever way possible.” he further added.

The oldest Olympian living in Sri Lanka, DIG Sumith Liyanage will be among a host of distinguished sportsmen and sportswomen who will be felicitated at a ceremony to be held at the Duncan White Auditorium of the Ministry of Sports in Colombo, today (1).

Altogether, a total of 47 Olympians living in Sri Lanka are set to be felicitated at this ceremony which will be held under the patronage of Sports Minister, Dullas Alahapperuma.

In addition, all Sri Lankan Olympians will be presented with an insurance scheme through the courtesy of Alliance Insurance.

Liyanage who turned 84 on June 6, represented the country in boxing at the 1960 Rome Olympic Games and participated in the featherweight class event.

After participating in the 1960 Olympic Games he was nominated for the Asian Games in Bangkok, Thailand in 1962.

Liyanage also won Gold Medals having participated in international events held in India and Pakistan in 1963.

During the period from 1955 to 1968, he won the National Boxing Championships while knocking out his opponents often in the very first round.

He won the National Championships in the bantamweight, featherweight and lightweight classes. He was also honoured as the Sports Star of the Year in 1960.

After having retired from the ring in 1968, Liyanage took to rifle shooting and he displayed excellence in this field by recording several victories.

He became the most acclaimed marksman and under his leadership the Sri Lanka Police Team won the President’s Challenge Cup at the Defence Services Shooting Championships on several occasions.

In addition, he was placed eighth at the World Shooting Championships held in Denmark in 1968 while competing in the pistol shooting category.

Some of the other veteran Olympians who would be felicitated are Wickremasinghe Wimaladasa (Munich, 1972), A. Premachandra (Moscow, 1980) and Wimalasena Perera (Mexico, 1968).

Football players with a Sri Lankan origin who are based in foreign countries will be eligible to represent Sri Lanka if they are granted dual citizenship according to the President of the Football Federation of Sri Lanka Anura de Silva.

There are eight Sri Lankan players who are residing abroad who are keen to represent the country in Football but they will have to obtain dual citizenship and the necessary documents have been already submitted to the authorities.

They will be allowed to join the Sri Lanka National Pool which is undergoing training under the watchful eyes of new national coach Amir Alagic at the Baddagana football complex. Two players Mervyn Hamilton and Waseem Razeek have already played for the country while Reez Darren, Ryan Darren, Jeddah Assen, Tokodo Francis and Musahir Razeek, have expressed their desire to play for Sri Lanka once they obtain dual citizenship, said the Football Chief.

Incidentally Tokodo Francis has been living in Sri Lanka since 2012 and their inclusion in the Sri Lanka National Soccer team will be a tremendous boost as the Sri Lanka team prepare for their Asia Cup qualifying matches against Korea, (North and South) and Lebanon in October 2020.

The Sports Minister Dullas Alahapperuma is ready to make arrangements to issue official identity card for the professional coaches.

The active coaches who work from 2014 have to register first and make the coaches National list ot obtain the official identity card under the new programme. The Sports Minster has already given instructions to work out this programme for the benefit of sports development.

The Minister who assumied duty last November investigated several issues in the sports field and the coaches identification is one important proposal to work out.

To make this a success Minister also has given instructions to activate the Sports Act to register coaches and address their issues of the official identity card.

After issuing this official identity cards from January 1, 2022 none of the coaches could do their coaching with out this official identity card. If any coach to do his coaching he should register and get an official identity card.

The coaches who want to get more information about this system can log into www.niss.gov.lk at the National sports science institute web site.

This new system is very important for all athletes to get proper guidance from the coaches.

Today most of the coaches with out proper qualifications do coaching and this is the main reason for not producing quality athletes.They don’t have new technology and some times they make short term methods like using banned substances.

“The sports Ministry has already got several complaints about these issues and hope to solve these issues from this new coaching registration method,” said a senior official of the Sports Ministry.

The fate of Sri Lanka Cricket’s (SLC) Premier Inter-Club Cricket Tournament hangs in the balance as all club representatives are set to meet the health authorities in a decisive meeting at the Sports Medicine Unit in Colombo today.

“We are going through the process which are laid down by the two ministries. We are having a meeting on July 1 and thereafter we would decide whether to go ahead or not,” a high ranking official of the SLC Tournament Committee revealed yesterday.

“The sports medicine team is conducting an awareness session for all the clubs and their officials and basically they would set the guidelines for the resumption of the competition.”

“They are very positive of restarting the tournament and want to ensure that we take certain steps to fulfil the guidelines accordingly,” the source added further.

“We had a session on how to conduct the training and now we are going into the next level on how to conduct the competition and what are the protocols and what are the procedures that we need to follow.”

“The clubs are very keen to start the tournament and they have already commenced practices under the Health Ministry guidelines,” he elaborated.

However, the SLC Tournament Committee has brought some changes to the format for the benefit of the players who are set to take the field after a long break.

“Looking at the players and that they have not played cricket for so many months we thought of going ahead with three-day matches instead of the four-day format,” he stressed.

“If we are allowed to start the tournament by July 14 then we should be able to conclude the league by the first week of August.”

“We have a total of 16 matches in the Super Eight and a further nine matches in the Plate category which could be completed in four weekends.”

“We need to give some rest to the players as well and so, there would be games starting during midweek as well after a break of three days between matches.”

“We got to make sure that the venues are also in good condition and so we have sent our curators for those venues to ensure that the wickets are ready for good First-Class cricket.”

The SLC Tournament Committee have also decided not to go ahead with this year’s annual Under-19 Provincial Tournament which involves mostly schoolboys.

“After the Premier League we will decide on the rest of the season but we are looking at scrapping the Under-19 Inter-Provincial Tournament since the schools did not continue with their scheduled tournaments,” he added.

The Special Police Investigation Division of Sports Ministry recorded a statement from former Sri Lanka Cricket Captain Aravinda De Silva yesterday with regard to the match- fixing allegations in the 2011 Cricket World Cup final held in Mumbai.

De Silva, who was the Chairman of the National Selection Committee during the 2011 World Cup was summoned to appear before the Special Investigation Unit headed by SSP Jagath Fonseka.

Former Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage made allegation that the Cricket World Cup final between Sri Lanka and India was fixed. The Special Investigation Division of the Sports Ministry then recorded a statement from Aluthgamage at his office in Nawalapitiya earlier in this regard.

Earlier Sports Minister Dullas Alahapperuma has ordered an investigation to this allegation and asked for a report on its progress every two weeks. Meanwhile an official attached to the Special Investigation Division of the Sports Ministry said they intend to complete the investigations and submit the report to the Attorney General for legal advice.

Sri Lanka Automobile Sports (SLAS) has announced its 2020 annual calendar with eight Supercross, five Circuite Meest, three Hill Climbs and three Motor Rallies at the beginning of the year. It also included Hutch Super Series and CEAT-SLADA Championship. But the unexpected Corona pandemic resulted in abandoned SLAS activities.

The southern Eliyakanda Hill Climb was the only possible event which was conducted last February. SLAS president Rizvi Farook said that they have to cancel two annual events and National Championship due to Covid-19 pandemic. “Sports Ministry has not provided us with the rules and regulations and event calendar to conduct the events and it is an uncertainty whether we will be able to conduct the events in the next six months,” he further said.

The license issued by the SLAS to compete in their 2020 events will be applied for 2021 and the drivers and and riders will not be subjected for a new license fee for 2021. The 2020 competition fees of the annual events too will be applicable for 2021.

According to Farook, SLAS hopes to conduct one Hill Climb, a Gravel race and a Tarmac race in the next six months if the Sports Ministry gives approval under health regulations with the aim to keep motor racing competitors in good shape. Farook also said that they will have the support of all motor sport associations in organizing those three events.

Hong Kong, Tuesday: The remainder of this year’s World Rugby Sevens Series has been cancelled over the coronavirus, the sport’s governing body said on Tuesday, with the flagship Hong Kong tournament among five events called off.

Tournaments in Langford in Canada, London, Paris, Singapore and Hong Kong will not be played this year, with the men’s and women’s titles both awarded to pacesetters New Zealand.

“The decision follows detailed and constructive dialogue with the host and participating unions, and has been taken with the health and wellbeing of the rugby community and the wider public as top priority,” a World Rugby statement said. AFP

When the Englishmen ruling our country they commenced rugby in early years of 1900. When the Royal Ceylon Air Force was formed in 1951 they too took up to rugby and followed by two brother services Army and Navy joined the fray and later the Police Department too commenced Rugby. In the Air Force there was a great sportsman and a sports lover, a product of Royal College, Colombo former Commander of the Air Force Air Vice Marshall Harry Goonetileke and he put everything he had in him to lift the standard of the Rugby in the Air Force. In the early days two former Commanders Rohan Amarasekera and Padman Mendis supported him.

The finals of the Clifford Cup played between the Air Force and C.R. & F.C. at Longden Place after a hard fought battle the homesters lifted the trophy by 11 to 5 and the two captains were Jeff Rathnam and Sari de Silva of Air Force and CR & FC respectively. Rugby Football has caught the fancy of players and spectators alike here in Sri Lanka. There are many clubs and schools who have taken to the game, not only in Colombo and its suburbs and in distant places like Badulla, Radella and other distant towns.

Many followers of the game, however, may not really know how the game came in as a sport here in Sri Lanka. It was none other than Sir Hugh Clifford - a former Governor of Ceylon who introduced the game of Rugby Football to then Ceylon.

The story goes that it was as a birth day present to his wife Lady Clifford that Governor Clifford introduced the game of Rugby Football to Ceylon.

The first game was scheduled to be played on August 26 in 1911, but due to unforeseen circumstances the scheduled date was put off by a week and it was played on September 2nd 1911. The inaugural match was played between All Ceylon and the United Services. Both teams were represented by Europeans because no Ceylonese knew what this game was all about. It was a blessing in disguise and in that historic match the United Services quite easily beat All-Ceylon by 25 points to nil. The game rapidly caught interest as the years went by. Some of the early results: 1911: United

Services beat All-Ceylon 25-nil, 1912: All-Ceylon beat United Services 8-nil, 1913: United Services beat All-Ceylon 3-nil.

Then came the World War I and this annual fixture just started had to be suspended. After 1913 it was not held until 1925 because of the war.

Then the structure was somewhat changed when the fixture was re-arranged. In 1926 the Low-Country team came into the picture with Ceylonese coming into the scene. In 1926, Low Country beat United Services 14-3. Up-Country too came into the game and they won in 1927 beating the Ceylonese 11-8. In 1928 Low-Country beat Ceylonese 15-11, in 1929: Low-Country beat United Services 23-3, in 1930: Low-Country beat Ceylonese 14-3, in 1931: Low-Country beat Ceylonese 27-6, in 1932: Up-Country beat

United Services 14-10, in 1933: Up-Country beat United Services 20-3, in 1934: Low-Country beat Ceylonese 17-nil, in 1935: Up-Country beat United Services 11-nil, in 1936: Low-Country beat United Services 9-3, in 1937 Up-Country beat United Services 25-0 and in 1938 Up-Country beat Ceylonese 10-nil.

After World War 1 this country was plagued by World War II and this fixture which turned out to be very popular, was cancelled and the competition for the Cup was re-organised in the post war period from 1950.

The first winners then were: Havelocks Sports Club who won in 1950 and 1951, then CR and FC won it in 1952, Dimbula 1953, CR and FC from 1954 to 1960, Havelocks in 1961, CH and FC in 1962, Havelocks 1963 and 1964. After World War II, the locals came into the picture from 1950 and it caught the interest of the sports-loving people of Ceylon.

When Commander Harry Goonetileke took up coaching the Airmen, there were only five players who had played rugby during their school days and the others were novices. There was great enthusiasm among those Airmen who attended practices and the Air Force went from strength to strength, thanks to the interest taken by the Air Force Commander Rohan Amarasekera, Padman Mendis and the other senior officers and past players. There is a saying that “Hard work has to have rewards”.

This came true in 1965 when the Air Force reached the final of the Clifford Cup in 1965 to match their wits with the formidable CR and FC. It turned out to be a keenly fought out game in 1965 - August 14th at Longden Place. It was somewhat of a jolly day for the Airmen who came in truck loads to Longden Place and the writer too could not resist the temptation to make the trip for the match. It was a keen tussle for top honours and after a hard - fought game, the CR emerged champions by 11 points to 5.

Two Teams

CR and FC: H. Karunasekera (Full Back), N. Perera, D. de Almeida, M. Azain, B.Van Twest (three-quarters), M. Sahayam (Fly-Half), Tony Sirimanne (Scrum “Half), M.H.Omar, C.H. Seneviratne and F.A. Ohiums (Front Row), P. Abeysekera and D.Samarasekera (Second Row), Sari de Sylva - Captain, Eic Roles and H. Perera (Third Row. Reserves: T. Rankin, C. Perera, K. Vidanage.

Air Force: Bertie Ekanayake (Full Back), Gerald David, P. Segarajasekaram, Rodney Soysa, Jeff Ratnam (Captain), Three-Quarters; M. Maheswaran (Fly-Half), Eddie Buel (Scrum Half), C.R.A. Fernando, F.A. Gomes and Douggie Perera (Front Row), E. Perera M. Hussain (Second Row), T.M. Khalid, Hillary Sella and R.D. Paul (Front Row). Reserves: M.R. Vijaya Bandara, W.K.D.M. Abeysekera.

Nimal Lewke a prominent figure and retired Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police (SDIG), who excelled both in the field of Sports and Administration would like to extend his sincere gratitude to Gamani Fernando and Malik Sarawickrema for their pivotal role in encouraging him to reach the pinnacle, especially in the field of rugby coaching.

After becoming one of the most successful rugby coaches in the country, establishing several records, reaching great heights in the game, he believes that both Gamani Fernando and Malik Sarawickrema were influential and encouraged him to take up coaching, which ultimately resulted dividend while becoming the cynosure of eyes.

The 67-year-old Lewke completed his schools education at St. Sylvester’s College, Kandy while involving in several sports especially in boxing, where he won several titles including the National Championship later representing the country at International level.

He joined the Police Department as a probationary sub inspector in 1972 and served until 1983 before he joined the Special Task Force (STF), where he retired while being the commandant. When he was in the Police service he donned their jersey in Rugby, Cricket and Boxing winning several titles. He was also a member of the Police Rugby team which won the “Clifford Cup” in 1972/73/79 and 1980 which the year he led them as captain. While

being a ruggerite he represented Sri Lanka Police in the Sara Trophy Cricket tournament in 1970. He was also a member of the Pistol shooting team at the President’s Trophy in 1978/1979.

Later he was extended an invitation by Gamini Fernando to take over coaching at depleted Havelocks Sports Club when he was based in President’s security (PSD) in 1989. He worked tirelessly to guide Havies as they lost to CH and FC in the final with a narrow margin 0-4 This was a turning point for him in his coaching career as he later coached St.Joseph’s College, Colombo from 1989 to 1994 where he was took over by St.Peter’s College, Colombo and St.Thomas College, Mount Lavinia. He guided the two schools to win several trophies under his purview.

Malik Sarawickrema the Kandy Sports Club president extended an invitation in 1995 to take over coaching when he was based in Vauniya. He took them to win the triple crown in 1995 under Saman Kothalawala, 1996 under Imthi Marikkar and under Lasantha Wijesuriya in 1997. In 1999 he guided the Access team to win the Mercantile Rugby 7’s.

He was then called to occupy the Junior Rugby National Coach vacancy in 1998. He then was entrusted to take over the under-24 National team which later won the test series against Hong Kong for the first time in the history.

With this belligerent performance he was promoted to take over the Senior National Rugby team in 1999 where he served in this capacity until 2000. He guided the National team to win the international fixtures against Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia and China. The victory over Northern Territories of Australia was a unique achievement which apparently became first time in the history of Sri Lanka Rugby. Under him Sri Lanka won the Neighbors Cup held in Malaysia in 2000 before winning the Asian Plate championship in 1999.

He then changed gears in his career to get into rugby administration. He was elected as the President of the Sri Lanka Rugby Football and held office from 2007 to 2008. While being in that capacity he had the rare distinct of being elected as the President of the Asian Rugby Football in 2008 becoming the second Sri Lankan to hold office in this capacity. He was instrumental in hosting Rugby Asiad during conflict time which undoubtedly is a tremendous achievement by a Lankan. Sri Lanka was runner up to Kazakhstan in the final.

Moreover, he was the winner of the Prestigious Presidential award for life time achievement in Sports – “Kreeda Bhushana”. Apart from the above sports accolades, he too was awarded the Police “Bravery Medal” for counter terrorism.

A.M. Muditha Premadasa left hand batsman of Maliyadeva College Kurunegala passed 1000 runs milestone in two consecutive years of the ‘Singer Trophy’ Under 19 Division One inter Schools Cricket (Two day) tournament.

He was the first batsman to pass 1000 runs in this season. Wicket keeper batsman Muditha Premadasa is the skipper of Maliyadeva College Kurunegala under 19 Cricket team in this season.

He represented college under 13 cricket ‘B’ team (Division 3) in 2013. He led under 13 Cricket ‘A’ team in 2014. He was adjudicated Best Player in the under 13 inter schools division One tournament in 2014. He scored 1251 runs. He claimed 34 victims as wicket-keeper in the same tournament.

He represented the college first XI team in 4 years. He represented the under 19 inter Provincial tournament in 2017. He was adjudicated Best Fielder in the Battle of the Rocks annual cricket limited overs encounter in 2017.

He was the deputy skipper of Kurunegala district team in 2018.

Muditha Premadasa led the college under 17 team in 2018. He was selected for the final 35 of the Sri Lanka Under 19 pool for the Indian tour of Sri Lanka. He participated in Sri Lanka U-19 team for Bangladesh under 19’s tour of Sri Lanka.

He passed 1000 runs milestone in the schools cricket season of 2018/2019. He scored 1017 runs. He scored 153 runs against Richmond College Galle. He was adjudicated Best Fielder in the Battle of the RockS annual cricket limited overs encounter in 2019.

He led Maliyadeva College first XI cricket team in the 2019/2020 season. He scored 1226 runs with 3 centuries and 6 half centuries in 25 innings. He missed a double century by 3 runs against Devapathiraja College Rathgama. He made centuries against St. Servatius Matara and Ananda Colombo in this season.

He thanks his coaches Nalin, Rohan Dheerasooriya, Bandara, Arnold, Champika Siriwardana, Principals Mr. Rathnayake, Mr. Indrarathne, Mr. Jayasundara, Master in charges Mahinda Uduwaralla and Suranga Karunathilake, all teachers, OBA, Cricket OBA, students in school, his family members, relations and all members in the college cricket teams who helped in his all endevours. YK

Tom Ossen, a product of Kandy who learnt his football at Dhamraraja College, was the man who led the Sri Lanka football team in the first ever tour of the Far East in 1958. During that period, Tom Ossen was attached to the Kandy Municipal Council as playgrounds master and played football for Young Stars Sports Club and Kandy League.

Though he is no more, his service for football is remembered. In 1958 when the Sri Lanka Football team toured Far East, It was Tom Ossen who was invited to lead the country. Later he was the coach of the Peradeniya University, Kandy Association Football League and a top grade FIFA referee. He handled the whistle in many games, at club and international level in the good old days, where tours were limited, not like today. Nowadays there are plenty of tours, thanks to Manilal Fernando who opened the goodwill gate for overseas tournaments in Sri Lankan football. This first ever tour took place in 1958, where a twenty member team left the Katunayake Air Port on a six weeks tour of China via Rangoon. This tour was organized by the Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka. At that time football was the most popular sport in the country.

Tom Ossen who had been playing for the country from 1952, was a top class player. He was famous for ball control and also was a team man. Before this tour, Tom led the Sri Lanka team against Madras. At that time football matches were played against Indian teams like Madras, Mysore, Hyderabad, Delhi etc. After Manilal Fernando came, our teams toured every where football is played.

On this tour of Far East, Tom’s deputy was Andrew Fernando, who was just one year junior to Tom at National level. In the previous year, 1957 Andrew Fernando had helped the Lankan team to beat Burma together with another Kandy product T.O.M Deen.

These two netted a goal each to give the country two goals to Burma’s no score. It was M.M. Hashimdeen of Victory FC and Ben Ferreira of Southern SC Galle who were the two goal keepers, Hashimdeen then known as the “Prince of goal keepers” had thrilled the spectators, on our soil and overseas with his superb job between the post. The fullbacks were Christopher Ranasinghe, Bagoos Saldin, E.P. Solomon and Christopher Ransnghe, the last named had played for Sandhurst and the Army Southern Command. He was a fine fullback with powerful kicks. Bagos Saldin played for Old Joes SC was a crack fullback and E.P. Solomon played for Saunders FC, was the best left back at that time.

Besides Tom Ossen the captain, the other halves were M.P.B. Dissanayke, K.A.Premadasa, Eric Perera, and M.A.Karunarthne all were excellent players. The later was known as the most scientific and stylish half-back in Sri Lanka and Asia. M.P.B.Disanake played for All-In-One SC and then Erick Perera of Suanders FC was another fine player. M.A.karunarthne was a product of Badulla. The forwards line up were right extreme T.S. Jayman, the third product of Kandy in the team, from Kingswod College Kandy who played for CR & FC. Then the left extreme was B.Ariyadasa of Sunders FC, who was also well known for his hard work. K.D.Soapal of Kotehena was tight inside, T.O.M. Deen was the center forward. Left inside place was occupied by Policeman L. Bernadus Jnr from St. Benacict’s College, and he also played for Rowland’s SC. The team was under the watchful eyes of D.S. Abraham and this was the twenty players who was on the historic tour.

In 1995, under the captaincy of Sampath Perera, Sri Lanka won the Bristol SAARC Gold Cup by beating India. The man behind this was Manilal Fernando and the others who gave the best of support to him were late J.N.S. Anandaraja, Chrysantha Perera, T. Wanigarthne who was the coach, George Ferreira as Technical Consultant, Harold Antony who was the manager of the team and the ex-co members. The team was made out of players like Smpath Perera (Capt), Rohan Perera, M.Amanulla, M. Kabeer, Lalith Weersinghe, T.S.Gajanayake, J.Hasimdeen, Jagath Rohana, R.Wambeck, L.P. Perera, Sirisena Manjula, H.N.T.Gamage, P. Ferdinando, R.Imtiyaz, Ajith Prasana, M. Rafi, IlU Peeras, M. Riza, R.Hettiarchchi, D..Sugath, K. D. Sarath, S.M. Riswan and C. Stainwall.

It was a grand final. In this great final, to win the SAARC Bristol Cup, Sri Lanka had to beat India in the extra time. At that time, Sri Lanka had not been beaten by India since 1952. On the way to the finals Sri Lanka beat Nepal 2-1 and then came the Indian - Sri Lankan final. The writer was their at the final as the Ex-co member together with my Ex-co committee friends Hurley Silveira and M. Premadasa. So, by now the interest was at fever pitch and the Sugathadasa Stadium was surrounded by tuk-tuks, motor cycles, push cycles, cars and other vehicles crammed with fans carrying flags and flares. The ground was full of its twenty-five thousand capacity and at round ten thousand more were locked out, causing problem for the security staff.

After a goal-less first half, the heavens opened and lighting flashed all around the stadium. Surely the match would have to be abandoned under such conditions and the teams would have to share the prize as joint champions. All credit went to George Joseph, the AFC’s match commissioner from the Football Association of Malaysia. After consulting the local officials he held on for 45 stormy minutes until the rain relented.

Incredibly, the players were back out within a couple of minutes and the second half kicked off on a pitch which looked once the worse for the watery battering it had just taken. No goals were scored in the 90 minutes, no sudden-death winner in the first period of extra time. Yet again found one, a Kandy product K.D. Sarath, who came into the game as a substitute on the 68th minute, for his first senior cap. In the 108th minute, skipper Sampath Perera broke down the left and his low cross was met by Sarath, whose diving header flew into the far corner. Match over. Sri Lanka were the champions and the happiest was Manilal and his ex-co. This tournament was held from March 25 to April 2, 1995. It was a five nation tournament sponsored by Ceylon Tobacco through the company’s Bristol brand and the co-sponsors were the Star TV of Hong Kong. During this tournament the cricket bats and the wickets were put away for a few days when Sri Lanka played host to the second SAARC (South Asian Association of Regional co-operation Gold Cup).

Sri Lankan Football’s most awaited extravaganza and the long standing dream the-“Super League” Soccer Tournament conducted by the Football Federation of Sri Lanka (FFSL) is set to kick off in November this year, subject to health authorities’ clearances in Colombo.

The Super League, which is a key tournament all around the football playing nations accredited to FIFA, in their annual calendars, has never been played in Sri Lanka or never had a professional outfit competition for the last 75 years. Hence, this will be their inaugural competition of this nature.

The competition was initiated and designed in 2018 by Jaswer Umar, General Secretary, FFSL, with the assistance and guidance of World Football governing body, FIFA. It almost took over 18 months to make the preparation and start up the grass root level process. The initial plan was to take off the tournament in last April, but due to the of Covid-19 pandemic, it came to a standstill.

The playing ten teams had a long selection process and were selected through a “Club Licensing Criteria” in association with Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Defenders SC (Former Army), Sea Hawks SC (Former Navy) , Blue Eagles (Former Air Force), Colombo FC, Renown SC, Ratnam SC, Red Star SC, Blue Star SC, Up Country Lions SC, and New Youngs FC were the teams that have finally met the stipulated requirements and criteria to participate in this tournament.

“Professional League is not just another competition; it is totally a new football industry with a professional employment contract for over 300 players, coaches, and other officials. It also provides new business opportunities to many local entrepreneurs in this new football business.” said Jaswar Umar, General Secretary of FFSL who is one of the main stakeholders of this initiative.

He further stated that “Many people are criticising that Super League is getting delayed. One need to understand that it is not an easy task to begin a professional League set up from the base. Before selections some minimum requirements were to be fulfilled. We have many challenges like venue preparation, medical aspects, televising, branding and other logistics. As the governing body our vision is to create a real football atmosphere for the fans and the Football loving public. We have done a lot of spade work preparation behind the screen which spectators are yet to witness.”

FFSL is assuring a different football atmosphere to its spectators with the launch of the Super League. Like the old days ‘Back to Football’- the Sugathadasa Stadium which has been chosen as the venue to stage this six-month long tournament, which no doubt is to catch the lost glory of the game.

The organisers believe that this will change the perception of the game and attract many investments into football from the private sector.

Improving and enhancing the skill levels of the national team, new talent identifications, transformation of clubs to a vibrant entity are some of the benefits of this Super League. Moreover, this is also set to become another entertainment sector as the organisers are embarking on a new concept for families and women to come and witness the games at an entertaining atmosphere.

Colombo, Wednesday: Sri Lanka opener Upul Tharanga on Wednesday became the first player to be grilled by detectives in a probe investigating claims that the 2011 Cricket World Cup final was fixed.

The 35-year-old batsman and wicketkeeper was questioned for two hours by the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) examining the conduct of the final, which Sri Lanka lost to India.

"They asked a few questions in connection with the ongoing investigation. I gave my statement," Tharanga told reporters without giving further details.

Tharanga, who scored two runs off 20 deliveries in the match at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium, was called in after investigators quizzed chief selector Aravinda de Silva for nearly six hours on Tuesday.

Police said they will next interview Kumar Sangakkara, the captain of the losing side and the current president of the Marylebone Cricket Club in London, who was asked to report to the SIU on Thursday.

There was no immediate comment from the 42-year-old, who last month said the allegations should be referred to the International Cricket Council (ICC).

The Sri Lankan probe was launched after the then-sports minister claimed that Sri Lanka threw the April 2011 match.

"I feel I can talk about it now," Mahindananda Aluthgamage told a local TV network last month. "I am not connecting players, but some sections were involved."

Sri Lanka bat first and scored 274-6 off 50 overs. They appeared in a commanding position when Indian superstar Sachin Tendulkar was out for 18.

But India turned the game around dramatically, thanks in part to poor fielding and bowling by Sri Lanka, who were led by Kumar Sangakkara.

India won the final by six wickets.

Sangakkara and his deputy Mahela Jayawardena quit their positions in the team after the stunning defeat.

The toss of the final was also controversial as it was done twice. Match referee Jeff Crowe apparently did not hear "heads" called by Sangakkara and asked Indian skipper M. S. Dhoni to toss again.

Sangakkara won the toss and elected to bat, a decision that was criticised in local media because the Sri Lankans were considered to be better at chasing at the time.

Sri Lankan cricket has been plagued by several corruption scandals, including claims of match-fixing ahead of a 2018 Test against England.

Last month the local cricket board said the ICC was investigating three unnamed ex-players over corruption claims.

Match-fixing was made a criminal offence in November. Offenders face fines of up to 100 million rupees ($555,000) and up to 10 years' jail.

- AFP

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) tied up with My Cola Beverages (Pvt) Limited as their official “Carbonated Beverages Partner” when they signed an agreement at a press briefing held at the Shangri-La Hotel, yesterday.

The contract will be in tandem for three years effective. The partnership was formed at a crucial juncture when the National Cricketing body is gearing up for bigger challenges in the future. My Cola Beverages with almost over 16 years of existence in the beverage industry in the country, will have a unique opportunity in popularising and marketing their wide range of products with a sport which has earned the top recognition in the International arena.

Under this partnership, the sponsors are scheduled to make some significant investments towards the promotion of the game in the country. In return, they will have the privilege of engaging in sale, distribution, dispensation, and service of Carbonated Beverages to all players, event attendees, officials, guests, and VIP’s hospitality enclosures, accredited journalists, Media persons, and TV crew at all matches involving SLC’s participation.

“We are happy and delighted to have My Cola Beverages as our Carbonated Beverage Partner at this crucial juncture of time. We are extremely thankful to them for coming up to support Sri Lanka Cricket which is passionately followed by the cricket-loving public from across the world.” said Mohan de Silva, Secretary SLC.

“With the country returning to normalcy after the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic halting all types of competition, this is a significant moment for us to get them as sponsors and march towards promoting the game to greater heights,” he further added.

“It is a significant milestone for our 16-year history to be appointed as the official Carbonated Beverage Partner of SLC, which is the only International Brand of Sri Lankan origin. We consider it a reward for our tireless efforts in the recent past to develop a range of beverages of delightful flavours and quality on par with International brands,” added Sharm Fernando, Executive Director/ CEO of My Cola Beverages (Pvt) Limited. -AN

The Athletics Association of Sri Lanka (AASL) will begin their preparations for next year’s Olympics and Asian Championships with a residential training camp from July 4 in Nuwara Eliya.

“The 26-member Sri Lanka Athletics Pool will go through a six-month training programme in Nuwara Eliya under the guidance of their respective coaches,” a top official of the AASL told the Daily News yesterday.

“We went through an observation tour to Nuwara Eliya last week and after an assessment of the conditions, we thought it was the ideal location for the athletes to train,” he added.

“Our panel of coaches also felt that the athletes need to train at a high-altitude location and accordingly, they will leave for Nuwara Eliya in a couple of days,” the source added further.

The athletics calendar for 2021 would commence with the 15th Asian Cross-Country Championships scheduled for February in Hong Kong.

This will be followed by the 18th Asian Marathon Championship which will be worked off in Thailand. The 4th Asian Youth (Under-18) Athletics Championships will be held in Kuwait in March, followed by the 21st Asian 20km Race Walking Meet in Japan.

In addition, the Asian Relay Championships will be staged on April 3 and 4 in Thailand. The glamour event in the Asian athletics calendar, the 24th Asian Athletics Championships, will be held from May 20 to 23 in Hangzhou, China.

Thereafter, the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games will be worked off from May 27 to 29 in Thailand.

The Mokpo International Throws Meeting will be held in September in South Korea, while the 3rd Asian Youth Games (athletics) will be staged from November 24 to 27 in Shantou, China.

Meanwhile, the AASL is also planning to send a total of eight athletes for the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.

“None of our athletes have qualified for the Olympics. But since the Tokyo Games got postponed to next year because of the Coronavirus pandemic, we still have a chance of qualifying,” the source pointed out.

As the Olympics have been postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the IAAF is set to conduct the qualifying events from December 30 to July 19.

Nearly 1,900 athletes have already obtained qualifications for the Olympics, although athletes from some of the other countries have not qualified yet.

It is believed that at least one male and female athlete would be handed a chance for Olympic representation from the nations which fail to qualify.

Madrid, Wednesday: After 118 years, Real Madrid will launch a professional women’s team on Wednesday by absorbing CD Tacon and launching a fresh Galactico project at the club.

Madrid, the best team of the 20th century according to FIFA, has so far been one of the only elite clubs to resist the creation of a female team.

By taking over Tacon, the women’s club based in Madrid and created in 2014, ‘Real Madrid Femenino’ will become a reality.

Approved at a meeting of shareholders in September last year, the buyout of Tacon for 300,000 euros ($337,000) will become official from July 1, when another recruitment drive will begin.

According to the Spanish press, Madrid have set their sights on the game’s finest talents and some of the first signings could arrive this week.

Tacon have already been expanding in preparation.

They signed Swedish internationals Kosovare Asllani and Sofia Jakobsson, who was nominated for the 2019 Women’s Ballon d’Or and who joined last year after finishing third in the Women’s World Cup.

But there will be more changes, after the announced departures of Ana Valles, Esther, Marina Martin Massanet, Patri Carballo, Ainoa Campo and Osinachi Ohale, in May.

The goal will be to turn Madrid into contenders both in Spain and Europe, where they will hope to challenge the supremacy of Barcelona’s women’s team, finalists in the 2018-2019 Women’s Champions League and who thrashed Tacon twice this season, 6-0 and 9-1.

“The time has come to build a team that you will all be very proud of,” said Real Madrid president Florentino Perez.

The change has been done gradually over several months. Since the start of the current season, Tacon, coached by David Aznar, have trained and played their home games at Valdebebas, a few metres from the men’s team.

AFP

Ethimale Cricket Club emerged champions of the Monaragala District Division III Inter club cricket tournament conduct by Monaragala District Cricket Association recently. Ethimale CC beat Ranamyaura SC by 22 runs in the final match played at Uva Wellassa cricket ground, Monaragala on Sunday. Altogether 12 club teams participated in this tournament from Monaragala district.

Ethimale CC: 124 (36.1) Sakuna Nidarshana 49, Thilakshana Sri Lal 20, Oshan Viranjana 17, Chathura Dhanushka 3/12, Avishka Lakshan 2/23, Sumeera Kushantha 2/23)

Ranamayura SC: 102 (36.4) Charitha Prabasha 26, Chaminda Ranaweera 25, Shalitha Malshan 17, Bhagya Lakshan 4/22, Gihan Achintha 3/31).

YK

Former Sri Lanka Cricket Captain Kumar Sangakkara arrives at the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) of the Sports Ministry to record a statement over the 2011 World Cup match fixing allegations.

Sangakkara held the captaincy of the team at that time. The SIU commenced the probe following the allegation by former Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage that the 2011 ICC World Cup Final between India and Sri Lanka was fixed.

Shashank Manohar has formally stepped down as International Cricket Council (ICC) chairman after heading the sport’s global governing body for four years.

Singapore’s Imran Khwaja previously Manohar’s deputy has been elevated as interim chairman until the process for the next chairman’s election is finalised.

Confirming Manohar’s departure and Khwaja’s elevation, the ICC said in a statement on Wednesday that its Board is “expected” to approve the election procedure for the successor “within the next week”.

Despite Khwaja being an aspirant for the chairman’s post  BCCI president Sourav Ganguly remains a rank outsider,

Manohar, who made a surprising return as BCCI president in 2015 following Jagmohan Dalmiya’s demise, resigned from the BCCI and took over as the first independent chairman of the ICC in 2016. He played a significant role in realigning the ICC’s revenue model.


(Source: The Hindu)