Football – Penalty shootout in progress!
The new football administration has a few tough games in hand. The new President, Sri Ranga, whom his handlers felt would follow the script and dance to their tune have been rudely awakened. The football boss is here to stay, if all reports reaching the public is true. He has shaken up the establishment and is working closely with the Ministry of Sports (MoS) to root out what he believes is a series of rampant corruption over several years. His rigorous stance is to make sure that the player benefits. As he stated in a recent sports gathering in Kandy, the officials who ran football are enjoying joy rides in BMWs, while the players who battle for victory, are a sorry lot taking on odd jobs as a means for survival. It was not a long time ago that a national cap lamented, that he had taken to grave digging in order to make ends meet!
How will Sri Ranga react?
Meanwhile the FIFA suspension hangs over Sri Lanka Football like the sword of Damocles. President Ranga is confident that FIFA will understand the circumstances that drove the MoS to take the decisions they took in order to prevent the previous administration from running away with the booty. Representations have been made to FIFA Secretary General by both MoS and FFSL and a meeting to elaborate on the developments is expected shortly. President Ranga is confident that the conditions imposed by FIFA in a road map can be realised by negotiation, so that FIFA could overturn the suspension and allow Sri Lanka to join the International body! After all, the revision of statutes goes as far back as 2014 and the people who are crying foul are the very people who kept delaying its implementation, in spite of FIFA efforts.
Meanwhile, legal action against the last administration is underway with gross violations addressed and hopefully rectified. FFSL owes large sums of money to many creditors and this does not auger well for the football fraternity. The sooner these anomalies are resolved, Sri Lanka can look forward to a more favorable plan of action in the future! Colossal sums of money are spent on legal cases, while the sport suffers. The traditional KO and League Tournaments are languishing without plans and Youth as well as Women’s competitions are in the back burner! Football House itself is redesigned and matches many 5 star dwellings or offices, but the productivity of such lavish investments are in vain one would argue, when the real work of developing and managing football, is in the doldrums!
Not many share the optimism displayed by the football chief. There are signs that senior football officials sidelined by the recent elections are disillusioned by the stance taken by the President. Being a relative newcomer to the sport, they feel that the new team will benefit from the guidance they can offer, something the President is skeptical about. Badgered by many demands, President Ranga fears that these motives are dishonest and appears to prefer a solo attempt at the goals he has in mind. He has invited a few advisors to assist him, but many are now beginning to feel that this chaotic approach will not work. Rumors that the FFSL Secretary General is contemplating resignation is doing the rounds and the fact that the Council has not met since the election is beginning to cause time-out by many stalwarts. Football Leagues have been summoned in groups it is reported and the mothballed National Team summoned to reassure them that it is their interest that is paramount, not the grumblings of outdated officials. And so, the battle lines are drawn and a penalty shoot-out is on the cards. It may be necessary for President Ranga to engage and put these detractors at ease.
The MoS may also welcome a Normalization proposal from FIFA. For too long the FFSL has meandered with a lack of direction. It is time that all agree that enough is enough. Like the IMF bailing out the country in the throes of a national melt down, so it is with Football. A system change will do all a world of good. A penalty shoot-out always brings results, but not necessarily what may be good for Sri Lanka Football. Let all those who love this sport rise to the occasion and ensure that good sense prevails. You cannot score goals if you don’t see the goalposts!