Soccer!! There is a hole in the bucket dear President
View(s):Sri Lanka’s campaign at the SAFF Cup football tournament has been tainted by a string of lacklustre performances, the worst of which came against the Maldives, who subjected their regional neighbours to a 10-0 drubbing. A few years ago such an embarrassing margin of defeat would never have been imagined, especially to the Maldives, a country whose football structure Sri Lanka helped construct through the export of local players and coaches. So how have things gone so wrong?
 Our national team has no international experience so no wonder they are losing like this. They need to play more matches. Also look at our club system. Players don't even have money to buy new boots. I go for practices after my job at around 5.00 p.m. and play till 6.45 p.m. So it's very tough. We need more sponsors and we need more club tournaments. Dumindu Wasantha (Present club and former national player) |
 Our players are good. We have a lot of talent but our selection process is disorderly. A few weeks before a tournament players are just picked, players without international experience. They don't know the standard of foreign players. It is the fault of the management. No one is there to support us and we don't get paid anything. I love the game but sometimes when I have to go for practices then go to work and again for practices I feel so tired. Sometimes I don't even feel like playing anymore with all these problems. M. Ismirly (Present club player and former national player) |
 We are playing here without a proper system. In the Maldives the main sport is football, unlike here where we also have cricket and rugby, so they can fully focus on the game. In Sri Lanka, at the school level parents don't encourage their children to play football or come regularly for practices. We also don't have good grounds or proper coaches. R. M Mahindapala (Football official) |
 Over the years I have been watching football here I have noticed a steady decline in standards. Players no longer have that passion and dedication. Once they get into a team they are happy to just keep playing without trying to improve. You can't blame them because they don't get money or support for their football careers. Nandana Kumarasiri (Longtime football spectator) |
 Prior to the tournament, the Sri Lankan team went to Thailand and played four matches. We won 3-1. So this was an improvement because before we lost to Thailand on these kinds of tours. So I don't know what has gone wrong in Nepal. I have set up a three-member committee to investigate this. But I think there is no magic solution to our football. We have to start being more professional through a long-term plan. Our club league system is an amateur system, we need to have a professional league. Ranjith Rodrigo (FFSL President) |
 Other countries in the region have improved faster than us. A major problem is we do not have football academies. If you look at Bhutan, Nepal and India they all have academies. But there is a practical problem with having academies here because it's difficult to get boys for them. You will have to think about their studies and find schools for them. Another thing is if you look at players from Maldives for example, they are well-paid and in their club system they play against top players from countries like Brazil. So we have to rethink things and reinvest. Rukmal Perera (FFSL official) |
 The reason that football has gone down here is that there is no proper support for it from the authorities. It is a popular game, especially in places like this (Slave Island) and there are very talented players. But there are several problems. I stopped playing because I had to focus on my job; you can't sustain yourself through football. Sameera Perera (Former club player) |
 If you compare our development with a country like the Maldives, the main difference is they have a good club structure. It is highly professional and the players are very dedicated. The game also gets government backing and support from businesses. In Sri Lanka we don't have that. We first need to set ourselves reasonable targets. Sumith Walpola (Football coach) |