Packeer Ali’s unenviable task for Lanka’s Football
Packeer Ali (L) will be supported by Suzuki of Japan FA - Pic courtesy FFSL
For almost an year, when the Sri Lanka cricket team was in the receiving end even against low-ranked opponents Sri Lanka Cricket administrators made a bold move by raking in world renowned coach Chandika Hathurusinghe as Head Coach. Fortunes did not change overnight, but by today results have beginning to show.
In a somewhat similar move, the Football Federation of Sri Lanka (FFSL) have made, probably one of the boldest approaches in the recent years, by appointing Nizam Packeer Ali as the Head Coach. The appointment was made public on Thursday, with another addition that of Sunil Senaweera as Manager of all National Football teams.
Hathurusinghe and Packeer Ali have common areas that put both in a similar league, but in two different arenas. The similarities; both are ‘bold headed’, technical masterminds, possess highly rich and impressive track records as coaches and ambassadors that put
Sri Lanka on the world map with their coaching skills.
Hathurusinghe took charge of a team that had abundance of talent, but lost its way without proper guidance, resulting in losing their world rankings in all three formats by more than a slot or two. Hathurusingha took very little time to put things in order and Sri Lanka is in a fine mindset for the ICC World Cup 2019 campaign.
But in the case of Packeer Ali, the circumstances are totally different. He takes over a side that gradually slid down to 200 in FIFA World Rankings, from the mid 100s in a matter of closer to two decades. He virtually takes over a side with no players in it at all. Which means Packeer Ali will have to do the talent scouting all by himself, before the formation of two national squads, consisting of 30 players each, by end of March. In comparison Packeer Ali has the real challenge on his heavy shoulders and bold head.
“I cannot promise the stars and the moon, but I can assure you that our goal is to draw matches at the upcoming SAFF Championships in September in Bangladesh. Firstly we have to come out of the losing trend, starts drawing and my plan is to build up a strong Sri Lanka team by 2022, where we can easily hope of winning games,” Head Coach Packeer Ali said.
To initiate Packeer Ali’s and Senaweera’s new appointments, the FFSL will conduct a series of talent scouting programmes from a total of closer to 150 players, mainly from the Premier football clubs of the country as well as from the North and East regions. By March 24, the two squads of Sri Lanka and Sri Lanka ‘A’ teams will be formed to create a series of friendly matches between the two sides.
“It will be a massive task to maintain these players on a long term plan. The FFSL will certainly make a monthly payment for these players until we come to a position of offering contracts to players. At the moment we have a few potential sponsors for the national team. The plan looks really workable with someone like Packeer Ali,” FFSL President Anura de Silva stated.