What’s wrong with our Soccer
View(s):
Football was known as the common man’s sport until the recent past. Till cricket and rugby and lately other glamorous sports took over the limelight gradually football was the dominant attraction among sports lovers. The gradual downfall of the performance of the national team and the lackluster spread of domestic competitions has made its fans turn their backs on football. Can football raise again to its former glory?
Chandradasa Perera
(Sri Lanka 1967-1973, national skipper 1972)
“Football is no more in Sri Lanka. The people who are responsible are not the players but the administrators. We don’t have a national policy for the game. Those who come to the administration, have no idea at all to promote and develop the game. We have to develop the game from the grass root level. Whenever there is an international tournament, our administrators make preparations with only two months to go. If they are intending on producing a good set of players, definitely you must start from the age of 12, with a long term plan. Even the spectators are fed up of local football. During our times, there were lot of spectators who enjoyed the game. What happened to the game of cricket here, after winning the World Cup in year 1996. It promoted the game in the outstation and became the most lovable sport. But football, though we won the SAFF (South Asian Football Federation) Gold Cup in 1995, there was no long term plan by Football Federation of Sri Lanka in terms of development. Now it is facing a slow death. We must have a firm, long term plan on development with a stable-minded administration who has a vision.”
N.K. Abeysinghe (Retired Assistant Director of Sports – Technical and Project Officer Football,
Sports Development Department)
“I am not satisfied with football in Sri Lanka. And in world rankings, Sri Lanka is placed 187. We are the ones who taught the game of football to Maldives. But now they are above us. The responsibility of developing the game of football in Sri Lanka lies in the hands of Ministry of Sports and Football Federation. They don’t have a long term plan to develop it at all. To work out a plan, there are no knowledgeable officials in the Football Federation. The Ministry of Sports has a direct responsibility to develop the game throughout the island. A district coach should be appointed in each district, to create football clubs and also to organise tournaments. This will definitely help the football federation to find out talented players. For the downward trend in football, I point the finger directly at Football Federation and Ministry of Sports.”
Sajith Jayaratna (Assistant Manager IT – Private Company)
“My favourite game is cricket. After that I like football and athletics. During our times, there were many famous football players, unlike nowadays, there is no good players even to name a few. Due to the downward trend, majority of people here now has taken less interest of the game. Now football is limited only to Colombo. In the outstation, we cannot see any development in football. Just because some clubs field foreign players and win tournaments, it does not mean that the game has developed here at all, our local talent has not been exposed. People in the outstation like to witness a FA Cup final or any other tournament final in their towns. Unfortunately all these are limited to Colombo and the game is having a slow death. A good administration is need of the hour.”
Asoka Goonethilleke (Retired Sports Editor – Divaina)
“During the 1960s and 70s football in Sri Lanka was a force to reckoned within Asia. Although the team did not win any international championships. Football was a household game in the country then and the game was played even on streets or a lonely paddy field. It was a common sight then. Things changed fast. So were some of the administration who meekly transformed the target oriented game to “lets develop football” theory. National football teams world over are usually given targets which eventually help develop the game. Sri Lankan football administrators, it seems, do not believe in taking part in additional tournaments other than the South Asian Championship and the South Asian Games.
It is true that the team is fielded in the Asian, World and Olympic championships. It is due to the fact that the expenses are borne by the championship organisers. The Sri Lanka football team, said to be a well fed and paid unit, is yet to get the most important ‘ball’- the constant international exposure. It is not just about grouping some ball kickers prior to a championship. Let’s give the team targets like in 1995 where Sri Lanka successfully chased the South Asian Championship and stop talking about ‘developing football’ which is limited to the board room.”
B.H. Suresh (Three wheel driver)
Our team will lose a match today, but they will win tomorrow. In the case of football, it is different. They lose matches at a rate. This has made us get fed up of Sri Lankan football. In the past we had players like Sampath Perera, Dudley Steinwall, Chathura Maduranga and Kasun Jayasuriya used to play the game, the team used to give a good fight even at a loss. But it is not the same now. As football is a game of 90 minutes, we like to watch the game unlike cricket, and it is not a loss for our job. Unfortunately we don’t see football played in our area. We really like to see the national football players in action in our areas but it is not so. Lack of competitive football matches at local level and at school level and a lost set of national players are not healthy for the game at all. Very soon football will be all about foreign clubs and other countries competing for us Sri Lankans.”
Sunil Senaweera (FIFA referee, International Match Commissioner, Secretary Gampola FL,
former secretary FFSL)
“The main reason for the downfall of the game is appointing of people who are not qualified, and who spent money to grab positions. Due to their money power, the officials who have played the game from grass root level are silent. These are the people who have not even kicked a football but they make a loud noise as world class footballers. Due to this situation our football is having a slow death day by day. Sri Lanka won the SAFF Gold Cup in 1995, but now in the same tournament we are knocked out in the first round itself. We lose games in such margins like 0-10 which shows the present football standards here. We have talented players, but unfortunately there are no talented officials in the FFSL to identify them. Football was more popular and developed in the whole country in the era of 1970s and 80s. But unfortunately now it is limited to Colombo. How many football clubs and football leagues had an abrupt ending? There are leagues today, most of them, who raise the hand only in voting. Whatever happens to the football leagues in other parts of country, the game will never die in Gampola, the most active league in the country”.
Saman Kumara Gunawardena
(Director Sports – University of Kelaniya)
“As per my knowledge the sport that receive most foreign funding after cricket is football. But this is the sport that has no plans. Today, majority of leading schools in Sri Lanka has rejected football from their sports list. Football is now played only in lesser known schools. Most of the children now prefer to participate in cricket, rugby and athletics and they play football as the last option. Also majority of entrants to Universities in Sri Lanka, don’t know how to play football, and the main reason being they have not played the game in schools. Hence it is very difficult to build up a football team in the Universities. If you take cricket, there is a proper plan commencing from Under-13 level to the First XI. But unfortunately we don’t see such a proper plan in football. Also there is no encouragement from the parents to the children, who are engaged in the sport. Based on this situation, the national football will never recover and is moving to a slow death.”
V.P. Tharindu Lakshan
(A/L student – Mahanama College, Panadura)
“We like the game of football same as cricket. We can watch game of cricket any time in TV, but unfortunately football, we cannot. If we want to see a football match, we have to go to either Kalutara or Colombo. At least to play a game of football, we don’t have a club or ground in the area. If we have more all-island school football tournaments, we have a chance to play, but unfortunately there is only one or two for the whole year. And we don’t know the national level players in Sri Lanka due to the detrimental situation in football.”
Anura de Silva (President of Football Federation of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka captain 1991-1992,
national player 1983-1993)
“Unlike the football here in Sri Lanka, the game has developed tremendously in the other parts of the world. The main reason is apart from the annual funds from FIFA and AFC, the governments of other countries also fund their football. Maldives is a good example. They were behind in the game compared to us some times back. But Maldives receive funds amounting to US Dollars 3 Million per year. But Sri Lanka receives only US Dollars 500,000 per year, and our football receive the sponsorship from private sector companies like Dialog and Cargills. But we don’t receive any funds from the government. Hence the amount we receive is not satisfactory to promote and develop the game in Sri Lanka. Due to this our football is failing. But football in other countries develop at an immense pace.”
