Sri Lanka’s only major football competition for the international schools is set to kick off from September 20 at the Henry Pedris ground in Colombo.
The Dialog International Schools Under-19 Football Tournament organized by Royal Institute in association with the governing body of the sport, Football Federation of Sri Lanka (FFSL) is sponsored by Dialog Telecom for the second consecutive year.
However authorities of FFSL consider this tournament as a result of a major strive as the conductors of schools football, the Sri Lanka Schools Football Association (SLSFA) has failed to accommodate international schools in its competitions.
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| Nushad Perera (Group Chief Marketing Officer and CEO – Dialog) hands over the official tailor made ball for the tournament to G.T. Bandara (Chairman /MD of Royal Institute International School) at a press conference held in Colomb last week. Also in the picture are (from left) Ruwan Perera (Director of Royal Institute International), Anura De Silva (DCEO of FFSL), Rizvi Farook (Senior Manager - Media Operations, Group Marketing – Dialog) -Pic by Ranjith Perera |
“This sport is widely open to all. It is undoubtly the most popular sport in the world but unfortunately the SLSFA officials have failed to think optimistically on the offer they were presented. We as the main arm of football in Sri Lanka attempted many a time to include international schools in the SLSFA sanctioned tournaments. But the response from them (SLSFA) have been not encouraging,” Rukmal Perera, the media spokesman for FFSL told reporters on Thursday (15).
The glamorous football competition will see 12 highly competitive international school teams in action during the 11 days. The tournament has been in existence for the past decade in a diminutive scale but continuous participation of leading schools saw the competition build up to its present standard.
“They say football is a poor man’s sport in Sri Lanka. But today we are promoting this sport among the rich. It has been really impressive last year. We sincerely hope the tournament will continue to produce its intensity this year so that we could think in a more innovative manner for the coming year,” Group CMO and CEO of Dialog, Nushad Perera stated.
Royal Institute International, British School Colombo, Colombo International School, Asian International School, Gateway Colombo, Gateway Kandy, Elizabeth Moir, Stafford International School, Belvoir International, Leighton Park, Lyceum Nugegoda and Lyceum Wattala are the twelve schools taking part.
British School Colombo are the present holders of the title from last year where they beat hosts Royal Institute by 1-0 in front of a massive attendance which is uncommon for football in Sri Lanka. The officials of Youth Talent Development division of FFSL will be present throughout the tournament to scout talents who could suit in to national youth squads.
The tournament which begins from September 20 will continue daily for four days and will recommence from September 29. The semifinals will be conducted in the morning sessions and the final will be played at the CR & FC ground on October 14. |
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