FIFA reiterates its stance, wants Sri Lanka to comply to get ban lifted
The world body for football, FIFA and its regional member, AFC have unanimously asked Sri Lanka to comply with its conditions if Sri Lanka wishes to get the football suspension lifted.
FIFA suspended the Football Federation of Sri Lanka (FFSL) on January 21, 2023 due to government interference and wanted three conditions be met to lift it.
A joint letter, signed by Kenny Jean-Marie, the Chief Member Associations Officer of FIFA and Vahid Kardany, the Deputy General Secretary – Member Associations of AFC and dated April 25 of 2023, clearly states on the steps to be taken to get the global suspension revoked.
With FIFA and AFC not recognising the Executive Committee elected on January 14 of 2023 as legitimate, the letter has been addressed to Upali Hewage, the General Secretary of the former FFSL administration under Jaswar Umar, which the global and regional bodies still correspond with.
The letter was in response to a correspondence sent by the Ministry of Sports on March 10, 2023, weeks before the findings report constructed by the five-member committee headed by former High Court Judge, Kusala Sarojini Weerawardene was released. In spite of the findings and recommendations stated on the said report, FIFA and AFC has given straightforward requirements if Sri Lanka is to regain its membership.
They demanded to exempt football from the current national sports law in order to guarantee the recognition and implementation of the newly adopted FFSL Statutes (22 September 2022), to reinstall the previous administration until a new committee is elected (because the elections of 14 January 2023 are not recognised by either FIFA or the AFC) and to conduct a fresh election as per the newly adopted FFSL Statutes (22 September 2022), especially by secret ballot and for a four-year mandate.
“In particular, we have observed that the Ministry has paid careful attention to the conditions foreseen in the decision of the Bureau of the FIFA Council rendered on 21 January 2023, mostly with respect to the requirement of a four-year tenure for elective office bearers,” the joint letter states.
These conditions, that has been made collectively by FIFA and AFC is a repeater of the previous correspondence shared with Sri Lanka months ago, soon after the global suspension was imposed.
However, FIFA and AFC encourages ‘the coorperation between the Ministry and the FFSL in order for the relevant prerequisites to be met so as to lift the suspension imposed on the federation as soon as possible. This only creates further confusion among the local authorities, as the Ministry of Sports was instrumental in holding the previous FFSL election held on January 14, 2023 where parliamentarian J. Sri Ranga was elected for a period that ends on May 31. Currently Sri Ranga is under remand custody with charges of a potential murder caused by a road accident.
With the former FFSL administration, headed by Jaswar Umar, not being rcogmised by the ministry, in contrast to the requirements of FIFA and AFC, the global ban on Sri Lanka could remain intact until all parties concerned come to a common understanding.
“We can assure both the FFSL and the Ministry that once the above (conditions) is successfully completed, we may be in a position to meet with the relevant government representatives,” further states the letter, that has an attachment of the letter sent by MoS for the reference of FFSL officials.