Football Sri Lanka Vision 2030 – Pipe Dream or Retirement Plan
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When Vision 2030 was launched coinciding with the arrival of the FIFA World Cup trophy
In the run-up to the World Cup last year, the FFSL (football Federation of Sri Lanka) launched, with some fanfare, a plan called Vision 2030. At a time when even the Government or, the Ministry of Sports (MOS), have not conjured such a momentous paradigm, the football administration in the country deemed it fit to announce to the world, its grandiose plan to revolutionise the Football fortunes of our land. From a conceptual point of view, the idea is well and good, because the sports loving public and Football fans in particular, know only too well that Football has been in the doldrums for quite a long time now. So any mantra is fodder for the media and a respite for lovers of the game patiently waiting for a miracle to happen. In a Whatsapp post, FFSL Secretray General (SG) tells this football group that such futuristic plans take time. Now that is a fair gambit from a man who inveigled himself into the SG post on the coattails of a pugnacious President, who installed him as CEO and paid the price for it.
But to return to our Vision story, the reality is that, this grand design has not been formally approved by the FFSL ExCo or the Council. It is unlikely that anyone other than its author knows what it is supposed to achieve, nor is it based on a well-structured administrative and financial framework. Constant queries made to ExCo members or League Officials in the Council draw a blank, which is indicative of the fact that, this pre-ponderous plan is looking more and more like a work of fiction. Why this is a serious sleight of hand, is the fact that the MOS and Prime Minister have taken a cursory look and sidestepped the plan, while FIFA and AFC have not endorsed such a subterfuge! If FFSL has any iota of integrity, then it would be timely for the FFSL to anchor the Vision 2030 Plan in its website and let the world know what it is proposing to achieve over time. Meanwhile, the FFSL President has, on AFC duty at the Asia Cup, been indifferent to these shenanigans.
Only a week ago, we saw Qatar stealing the thunder from Japan in the Asia Cup Final. That is of course a far cry from the destiny of Sri Lanka Football. For this island nation, a peek at the SAF Cup will be a dream come true. But sadly, what we see over and over again is a crew that is oblivious to such expectations. For these mavericks, what is all encompassing is the temptation to exploit the lavish bounty of FIFA and AFC. So long as these godfathers continue to fund and nurture Sri Lanka devoid of its ranking, this greed will consume what is left in the stables of Football House. Constant appeals by football experts and loyal followers of the game have sadly fallen on deaf ears. Having survived the dynasty of over two decades, FFSL slipped into a quagmire of vanity and misplaced ambition, from which it seems not to recover.
And so what is left, but to sound the last post! The retirement plan that is wrapped up cleverly in the shambolic Vision 2030 will only serve to sustain the livelihood of the author and his henchman. Football Sri Lanka cannot wait for this crafty long term plan to unravel at its own pace, nor should it allow the largesse of FIFA and& AFC to be squandered. Spontaneously perhaps, one observes that the Premier Clubs are taking small steps to seek their own redemption. It won’t be long before a Players Union takes shape. Academies are sprouting up to fill the vacuum that the FFSL has created, and the search for a new leadership is slowly gaining momentum.
It is very disheartening that an energetic MOS is preoccupied with Cricket and trying to bring its disgruntled members to work together. Therefore, Football must surely attract the sure handed intervention of the MOS. He need not go it alone. He has only to reach out to FIFA and AFC to institute a Normalization Committee and give them a mandate over a period of 2 – 3 years, to transform this beleaguered sport.
What is critical though, is to pick the right leadership, without which, such an initiative will only be another experiment. What India has achieved over the last few years is remarkable and we can take a leaf from them. Indeed, we have a great opportunity to take this sport by its bootlaces and put it on its feet. It will require courage and a very clear idea of what it is we wish to accomplish. There are people who can do that, if only the powers that be are willing to make that move, before it is too late!