FIFA offers prancing monkeys a step ladder to football notoriety!
View(s):There is a saying in pithy Sinhala that ‘panina rilaunta inimaga thibba wage! The expression roughly translates to our Kornerkick headline this Sunday. Indeed, a recent news item that FIFA has offered US$ 500K (LKR 80Mn) to FFSL to conduct a Semi-Pro League has caused more than a flutter in the local football landscape! Only last week we commented on the sorry state of affairs that the FFSL was infamously running a four year term prompting one of its key affiliates to question and threaten legal action if the MOS does not intervene and bring about the constitutional regulation to correct what is a grave anomaly. For two long years that FFSL has kicked the ball around without finding its goal and now suddenly find that the goal posts have been shifted. On top of that members of the Ex Co have expressed deep concern about the selection of the National Team that is on tour to participate in the World Cup Qualifying Rounds. The much bandied Vision 2020 has meanwhile lost its focus and the LKR 25Mn heist has all but been swept under the carpet!
A football wag was heard to comment that it was to such a bunch of monkeys that FIFA has given an open cheque of LKR 80Mn to squander as they please. This is not the first time that a Semi-Pro tournament is being talked about. Previous administrations had virtually crafted such a competition under the brand SINHA which the last regime had offered to sponsor and launch across the country. The change of the government put a stop to that adventure but at least it was a local enterprise carrying the weight of the most influential sports promoters in the land at that time. The Semi-Pro league is modelled on the IFL that has met with great success in the sub-continent and propelled the Indian National Teams to be formidable contestants in the Asian arena. But that we all know is a different ball game and an example of organisational excellence that the FFSL falls far short of by any stretch of imagination. So FIFA has now foisted on FFSL another excruciating challenge that on all counts is heading for a major scandal.
FFSL has repeatedly failed to run a sound competition format with no clear-cut season over the years. As a result, one year’s competitions roll over into the following year with clubs and fans at a loss to follow the progress of the tournaments. Such poor planning also has a negative effect on the development of players, something technical experts of the game have pointed out time and again. A direct outcome of this poor understanding of the sport is evidenced when our national teams face foreign competition and are soundly beaten as our dismal international ranking clearly illustrates. Another gross failure by FFSL is the inability to establish a sustainable commercial value for the sport. Football enthusiasts know very well how the extraordinary Cargills sponsorship was destroyed by the administrators at that time, something the FFSL President who was the CEO at that time knows better than anyone else!
FIFA will do well to insist that the US$ 500K is accompanied by an official who will oversee the disbursement of the funds on the ground here. Otherwise, it takes little imagination to know how these funds will be utilized. The selection of the ten best teams means that about 250 of Sri Lanka’s best players will come together in this professional league. It will also involve 10 of the best clubs and demand the availability of suitable playgrounds across the island. The opportunity to hype the competition with a blue-chip co-sponsor and to introduce a gate that will generate reciprocal funds locally is an enviable prospect that FFSL should not overlook. The advent of the Semi-Pro League also has implications for the Dialog Champions League which has been treated like a step-child by its corporate icon. Instead of recognising the potential of the DCL, the paltry sponsorship of a major football event has unwittingly stifled the sport.
Football lovers must surely welcome the FIFA benevolence. No other sport (with the exception of cricket), offers such a vast and handsome package to an outfit that can hardly manage its day to day affairs. The Minister of Sports (MOS) simply ignores the gross misconduct and incompetence displayed by the FFSL. To the top national sports administrators, the football ills of this country are of no great import. With the country shell shocked by the indifference of its national leadership, asking the MOS to take note of the apathy that Football endures is perhaps asking too much. Let the monkeys have their day. The FIFA step-ladder will show us how.