Football Finances – So much money, but the game gets poorer!
In this feature, we zoom in on the FFSL finance which is once again in the news for the wrong reasons. Indeed it is laudable that the FFSL can persist with their programs given the grand larceny that it is subjected to from time-to-time. More in question is the pontification of the FFSL President who appears to want to place the blame on the previous regime. The incumbent President has been an important cog in the wheel when he was picked as CEO of FFSL in the 2013 administration, so any through passes which he is quite adept at must be resisted by the last line of defense one has, one’s conscience!
In good times. Anura de Silva and Ranjith Rodrigo
The Finance Manager we are informed has submitted an affidavit to the effect that the Former Finance Committee Chairman has mislead him into many transactions. Most football insiders know that, that the Former President, the Finance Manager and the Former CEO/Current President formed an unholy trinity that foresaw all that happened at the FFSL right up to the famous watershed in January 2017 when the current President had a change of heart or a burdened conscience and jettisoned the rig that rolled for many moons. The battered FIFA Presidential visit expenditure and the Legal Fees were items that carried a major involvement of the then CEO with tacit approval of the Ex Co, so one is at a loss to understand what the new boss is talking about. Since January 2017 after the famous estrangement right up to the last election, the FFSL finances resided solely in the care of the Finance Manager which in retrospect seems to have been a window of opportunity crafted in the devious mind of that individual.
But what is worrying is why the FFSL has still did not institute an independent Committee of Enquiry nor why the Ministry of Sports (MOS) is also displaying such indifference. This is no paltry sum for any sports association, so this highway robbery needs a quick and robust resolution. Whoever is guilty with or without connivance must be exposed and punished, period. There cannot be a sweeping under the carpet. All and sundry know that this is not the first such fraud that was perpetrated against the FFSL and it will not be the last if the football fraternity chooses to let the culprits escape. Only last June the former CEO and current Secretary General were paid substantial allowances without the proper Finance Committee (FC) or Ex Co approval. Who facilitated the payments, but the infamous Finance Manager? We learn that the then supervising VP wrote to the MOS and informed the Ex Co but to date the matter has been hushed up and the current FC & Ex Co merely carry on regardless.
The FFSL receives annual grants of close to USD 750,000 with approximately another USD 50,000 from friendly MA’s not counting other allowances for specific events and programs. This is a honey-pot to which the busy bees return to, from time-to-time. At present values, these grants amount to about Rs.120M but the FFSL each year produces a deficit budget because that has been the historical norm.
Any well governed organisation knows that one can only spend what one earns, so to produce a slew of activities only suggests, that it is a means for those around the honey-pot to partake of the largesse that flows from international providence. For many top FFSL officials who have no known income source, what better moneybag other than this, all to share without murmur or mutter. It has long been espoused by knowledgeable administrators that FFSL undertakes only a critical program. One tied to a fundamental vision to revive its dysfunctional ethic and align itself to a specific plan to regain some ascendency in the South Asian region! The top dogs decry this demand, shifting blame to FIFA & AFC who they claim mandate activities tied to grants. This is questionable and must be reversed sooner than later, if football is to make a come-back from the depths of despair.
Another predilection of FFSL is the disdain they have for gate revenue! True, most of the venues where football is played in Sri Lanka are not secure and without gates; a far cry from most MA’s the world over. Furthermore, it does not realize that football without tickets only devalues the sport and renders the association, the affiliates, the clubs and ultimately the players, no reward whatsoever! Talk about the poor man’s game, only getting poorer! It is in this context that the FFSL lacks vision in its entirety. It has built stadia with FIFA and well wisher funds but with a questionable organizational structure that is a burden on the FFSL; some centers over which it has no control at all. How FIFA let this happen is anyone’s guess, nor do the MOS care; sadly, all these stakeholders do not realize the edict, all that glitters is not gold.
While all this poor practice continues regardless, FFSL makes a play about big time sponsors. The FFSL President speaking at the last Congress claimed that a large MNC sponsor was waiting to sign up; all one can say is good luck. Cargills was the ideal sponsor that the FFSL could ever wish for. When the then FFSL Marketing Chairman , Trevor Reckerman persuaded the premier super- marketer to come on board, it brought not just funds but a passion articulated by its Vice Chairman Ranjit Page, who stated that we are there to partner SL Football and take it to greatheights. The in-fighting and abject disunity within FFSL ranks made that pledge short-lived. Dialog remains marginally behind the Champions League with a sum that belittles a major value driver for FFSL. It has now turned to the crown prince of Expolanka, the owner of Colombo FC, to revise its fortunes. The poor man’s game needs a big kick and about time too!
Readers are invited to send their comments or observations to kornerkick@gmail.com in order to create a meaningful discussion amongst football lovers in this country.
Today we dwell on FFSL Finances. Next Feature on 01 October will focus on the FFSL Competitions & its veritable game plan!