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Asia Cup will be shifted to UAE with Sri Lankan hosting Rights!!!
The Asian Cricket Council has confirmed that the Asia Cup will be held in the United Arab Emirates with Sri Lanka, the original hosts, retaining hosting rights.
The economic crisis in Sri Lanka has seen the Asia Cup move out of the country although Sri Lanka will continue to retain the hosting rights. The tournament will now be held in UAE between August 27 and September 11.
“Every effort was made to host the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka and the decision to shift the venue to the UAE was taken after much deliberation,” Asian Cricket Council (ACC) President Jay Shah said in a press release on Wednesday. “The UAE will be the new venue while Sri Lanka will continue to retain hosting rights.”
“This edition of the Asia Cup is extremely important as it will help Asian nations prepare for the ICC World Cup, and I thank the SLC and the Emirates Cricket Board for their understanding and cooperation.”.
The ACC also expressed its solidarity with Sri Lanka Cricket in the release.
“The ACC is mindful of the passionate Sri Lankan fans, hence the final decision to change the venue has been very difficult, but has been one that was deemed necessary. However, the thoughts of all ACC members remain in solidarity with the cricket-loving nation of Sri Lanka.”
This year’s Asia Cup is set to be hosted in the UAE, from 27th August 2022 to 11th September 2022.
— AsianCricketCouncil (@ACCMedia1) July 27, 2022
Click link to read more: https://t.co/0PRCkolGeq#ACC #AsiaCup2022 #UAE pic.twitter.com/4gcvsoj6xa
The Asia Cup, which was last played in 2018, will be played in the T20 format, with nine teams participating. UAE, Kuwait, Singapore and Hong Kong will play a qualifying round with the winner joining India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Bangladesh in the main tournament.
While Sri Lanka is hosting Pakistan currently and also successfully completed a series at home against Australia recently, the nine-team tournament poses a huge challenge in the current scenario. UAE has been a favoured backup country for hosting major tournaments, with India hosting the 2021 T20 World Cup in the country.
ආසියානු කුසලානය ශ්රී ලංකාවේ සත්කාරක අයිතිය සමඟ UAE වෙත මාරු කෙරේ!!!
ආසියානු කුසලානය එක්සත් අරාබි එමීර් රාජ්යයේදී පැවැත්වීමට නියමිත බව ආසියානු ක්රිකට් කවුන්සිලය තහවුරු කර ඇත්තේ මුල් සත්කාරක ශ්රී ලංකාව සත්කාරක අයිතිය රඳවාගෙනය.
ශ්රී ලංකාවේ ආර්ථික අර්බුදය හේතුවෙන් ආසියානු කුසලානය රටින් පිටව ගොස් ඇති නමුත් සත්කාරක අයිතිය ශ්රී ලංකාව දිගටම රඳවා ගනු ඇත. තරඟාවලිය දැන් අගෝස්තු 27 සිට සැප්තැම්බර් 11 දක්වා එක්සත් අරාබි එමීර් රාජ්යයේ පැවැත්වීමට නියමිතය.
ආසියානු ක්රිකට් කවුන්සිලයේ (ACC) සභාපති ජේ ෂා බදාදා මාධ්ය නිවේදනයක් නිකුත් කරමින් කියා සිටියේ “ආසියානු කුසලානය ශ්රී ලංකාවේ පැවැත්වීමට සෑම උත්සාහයක්ම ගත් අතර එම ස්ථානය එක්සත් අරාබි එමීර් රාජ්යයට ගෙනයාමට තීරණය කරන ලදී. “එක්සත් අරාබි එමීර් රාජ්යය නව ස්ථානය වනු ඇති අතර ශ්රී ලංකාව සත්කාරක අයිතිවාසිකම් දිගටම රඳවා ගනු ඇත.”
“මෙම ආසියානු කුසලානයේ සංස්කරණය අතිශයින්ම වැදගත් වන්නේ එය ICC ලෝක කුසලානය සඳහා ආසියානු ජාතීන්ට සූදානම් වීමට උපකාර වන අතර, ඔවුන්ගේ අවබෝධය සහ සහයෝගීතාවය සඳහා මම SLC සහ එමිරේට්ස් ක්රිකට් මණ්ඩලයට ස්තූතිවන්ත වෙමි.”
ඒසීසීය ද ශ්රී ලංකා ක්රිකට් ආයතනයට සිය සහයෝගිතාව ප්රකාශ කර ඇත.
“ACC උද්යෝගිමත් ශ්රී ලාංකේය ක්රීඩා ලෝලීන් ගැන සැලකිලිමත් වන අතර, එම නිසා ස්ථානය වෙනස් කිරීමේ අවසාන තීරණය ඉතා අපහසු වී ඇත, නමුත් එය අවශ්ය යැයි සලකනු ලැබ ඇත. කෙසේ වෙතත්, සියලුම ACC සාමාජිකයින්ගේ සිතුවිලි ක්රිකට් ලෝලීන් සමඟ පවතී ශ්රී ලංකා ජාතිය සහයෝගයෙන්.”
අවසන් වරට 2018 වසරේ පැවැති ආසියානු කුසලානය විස්සයි20 ක්රමයට පැවැත්වෙන අතර ඊට කණ්ඩායම් 9ක් සහභාගී වේ. එක්සත් අරාබි එමීර් රාජ්යය, කුවේට්, සිංගප්පූරුව සහ හොංකොං සුදුසුකම් ලැබීමේ වටයකට ක්රීඩා කරන අතර ජයග්රාහකයා ඉන්දියාව, පාකිස්තානය, ශ්රී ලංකාව, ඇෆ්ගනිස්ථානය සහ බංග්ලාදේශය සමඟ ප්රධාන තරගාවලියට එක්වේ.
ශ්රී ලංකාව මේ වන විට පාකිස්තානයට සත්කාරකත්වය සපයන අතර පසුගියදා ඔස්ට්රේලියාවට එරෙහිව සිය මව්බිමේදී තරගාවලියක් සාර්ථකව නිම කරන අතර, කණ්ඩායම් 9කින් සමන්විත මෙම තරගාවලිය වත්මන් තත්ත්වය තුළ දැවැන්ත අභියෝගයක් එල්ල කරයි. එක්සත් අරාබි එමීර් රාජ්යය ප්රධාන තරඟාවලි පැවැත්වීම සඳහා අනුග්රහය දක්වන උපස්ථ රටක් වී ඇති අතර, ඉන්දියාව 2021 T20 ලෝක කුසලානය රට තුළ සත්කාරකත්වය දරයි.
ஆசிய கோப்பையை இலங்கை நடத்தும் உரிமையுடன் UAEக்கு மாற்றப்படும்!!!
ஆசியக் கோப்பை ஐக்கிய அரபு எமிரேட்ஸில் நடைபெறும் என்று ஆசிய கிரிக்கட் கவுன்சில் உறுதி செய்துள்ளது.
இலங்கையில் ஏற்பட்டுள்ள பொருளாதார நெருக்கடியால் ஆசியக் கிண்ணம் நாட்டை விட்டு வெளியேறிய போதிலும், இலங்கை தொடர்ந்து நடத்தும் உரிமையை தக்க வைத்துக் கொள்ளும். இப்போட்டி ஐக்கிய அரபு எமிரேட்ஸில் ஆகஸ்ட் 27 முதல் செப்டம்பர் 11 வரை நடைபெறும்.
ஆசியக் கோப்பையை இலங்கையில் நடத்துவதற்கான அனைத்து முயற்சிகளும் மேற்கொள்ளப்பட்டு, அந்த இடத்தை ஐக்கிய அரபு எமிரேட்ஸுக்கு மாற்ற முடிவு எடுக்கப்பட்டது என்று ஆசிய கிரிக்கெட் கவுன்சில் (ஏசிசி) தலைவர் ஜெய் ஷா புதன்கிழமை செய்திக்குறிப்பில் தெரிவித்தார். “ஐக்கிய அரபு எமிரேட்ஸ் புதிய இடமாக இருக்கும், அதே நேரத்தில் இலங்கை ஹோஸ்டிங் உரிமைகளை தக்க வைத்துக் கொள்ளும்.”
ஆசியக் கோப்பையின் இந்தப் பதிப்பு மிகவும் முக்கியமானது, ஏனெனில் இது ஆசிய நாடுகள் ஐசிசி உலகக் கோப்பைக்குத் தயார்படுத்த உதவும், மேலும் SLC மற்றும் எமிரேட்ஸ் கிரிக்கெட் வாரியத்தின் புரிந்துணர்வு மற்றும் ஒத்துழைப்புக்காக நான் நன்றி கூறுகிறேன்.
“ஏசிசி ஆர்வமுள்ள இலங்கை ரசிகர்களை கவனத்தில் கொள்கிறது, எனவே இடத்தை மாற்றுவதற்கான இறுதி முடிவு மிகவும் கடினமாக இருந்தது, ஆனால் அவசியமாக கருதப்பட்டது. இருப்பினும், அனைத்து ஏசிசி உறுப்பினர்களின் எண்ணங்களும் கிரிக்கெட்டை விரும்புபவர்களுடன் ஒற்றுமையாக இலங்கை தேசம் இருக்கும்.”
கடந்த 2018-ம் ஆண்டு நடைபெற்ற ஆசிய கோப்பை டி20 முறையில் ஒன்பது அணிகள் பங்கேற்கும். ஐக்கிய அரபு எமிரேட்ஸ், குவைத், சிங்கப்பூர், ஹாங்காங் ஆகிய அணிகள் தகுதிச் சுற்றில் விளையாடும், அதில் வெற்றி பெறும் அணி இந்தியா, பாகிஸ்தான், இலங்கை, ஆப்கானிஸ்தான் மற்றும் வங்கதேசம் ஆகிய அணிகளுடன் முக்கிய போட்டியில் பங்கேற்கிறது.
இலங்கை தற்போது பாகிஸ்தான் தொடரை நடத்தும் அதே வேளையில், அண்மையில் அவுஸ்திரேலியாவுக்கு எதிராக சொந்த மண்ணில் ஒரு தொடரை வெற்றிகரமாக நிறைவுசெய்துள்ள அதேவேளை, தற்போதைய சூழ்நிலையில் ஒன்பது அணிகள் கொண்ட போட்டியை நடத்துவது பாரிய சவாலாக உள்ளது. 2021 டி20 உலகக் கோப்பையை இந்தியாவில் நடத்துவதுடன், ஐக்கிய அரபு எமிரேட்ஸ் பெரிய போட்டிகளை நடத்துவதற்கு ஆதரவான நாடு.
Source ICC
News
South Asian Karate Championship 2025: India and Sri Lanka Shine as Karate Celebrates 50 Years in Sri Lanka
Colombo, July 5–6, 2025 – The 9th South Asian Karate Championship and the 1st South Asian Youth Karate Championship successfully concluded at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium, marking a landmark moment in Sri Lanka’s martial arts history as the nation celebrates the 50th Anniversary of the Sri Lanka Karate Federation.
This prestigious two-day event was jointly organized by the South Asian Karate Federation and the Sri Lanka Karate Federation, which is registered under the Ministry of Sports as one of the seven official sports federations in the country.
Day 1 (July 5) – Youth Championship Dominated by India and Sri Lanka
The opening day featured intense youth-level competition with over 700 athletes from seven South Asian nations – Sri Lanka, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and the Maldives – competing in age categories below 14.
🥇 Youth Medal Standings (U-14 Category):
- India – 22 Medals (1st Place)
- Nepal – 20 Medals (2nd Place)
- Sri Lanka – 10 Medals (3rd Place)
📺 Watch Day 1 Highlights:
Final Day (July 6) – Sri Lanka Takes Youth Title, India Clinches Senior Crown
The second day of the tournament featured both senior and youth finals. In a historic achievement, Sri Lanka emerged champions in the Youth Division, while India secured the Senior Team Championship, continuing their regional dominance.
Final Team Standings:
- Senior Category:
- 🥇 India (Champions)
- 🥈 Nepal (Runners-up)
- 🥉 Sri Lanka (Third Place)
- Youth Category:
- 🥇 Sri Lanka (Champions)
- 🥈 India (Runners-up)
- 🥉 Nepal (Third Place)
Watch Final Day Highlights:
Special Guests & Recognition
The event was graced by His Excellency Akio Isomata, the Japanese Ambassador to Sri Lanka, who attended as the Chief Guest, acknowledging Sri Lanka’s long-standing contribution to the growth of karate in South Asia.
Also present was Bharat Sharma, President of the South Asian Karate Federation, who praised the standard of competition and Sri Lanka’s organizing excellence.
Karate in Sri Lanka – 50 Years of Legacy
This championship coincided with the 50th Anniversary of the Sri Lanka Karate Federation, which has played a vital role in shaping karate talent nationally and internationally. With continued support from the Ministry of Sports, karate remains one of Sri Lanka’s fastest-growing combat sports.
Football
Sri Lanka Women Finish Qualifiers with 0 Goals, 20 Conceded – Who Will Take Responsibility?
Colombo, July 3 – Sri Lanka Women’s National Football Team wrapped up their AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2026 Qualifiers campaign with a third straight defeat — a 2-0 loss to Laos — confirming their position at the bottom of Group F, with 0 wins, 0 goals scored, and 18 conceded in just three games.
But beyond the scorelines lies a far more serious issue: a complete collapse of women’s football development in Sri Lanka. And this time, the blame does not lie on one individual — but on a system that has failed the sport, from top to bottom.

Match-by-Match Recap
Match 1: Sri Lanka 0 – 10 Uzbekistan
- Possession: 30%
- Shots on Target: 0
- xG: 0.0 vs Uzbekistan’s 3.60
- A game that exposed a lack of preparation, structure, and fitness from the very start.
Match 2: Sri Lanka 0 – 8 Nepal
- Possession: 50%
- Defensive errors gifted goals, including a hat-trick by Sabitra Bhandari.
- xG: Nepal 3.76 vs Sri Lanka 0.60
- Tactical breakdown: Midfield collapsed under pressure, backline failed to close space.
Match 3: Sri Lanka 0 – 2 Laos
- Possession: 50%
- Shots on Target: 5
- xG: 2.56 (Laos) vs 1.08 (Sri Lanka)
- A more balanced performance, but defensive lapses in the 73rd and 90+2 minutes led to defeat. Sri Lanka couldn’t convert chances despite their best game statistically.
Final Group Standings – Group F
Team | MP | GF | GA | GD | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
🇳🇵 Nepal | 2 | 17 | 0 | +17 | 6 |
🇺🇿 Uzbekistan | 2 | 17 | 0 | +17 | 6 |
🇱🇦 Laos | 2 | 2 | 16 | -14 | 0 |
🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | 3 | 0 | 20 | -20 | 0 |
Tactical Issues Across All Matches
- No clear formation or transition play.
- Lack of defensive coordination — players failed to track runners, especially on the flanks.
- No attacking identity — only 1.08 xG across three games.
- In-game management absent — few substitutions or tactical shifts despite being outplayed.
While public criticism often targets the President of the Football Federation, this decline in women’s football runs deeper:
Who Is Accountable? Not Just the President
Women’s Football Committee:
- Failed to organize any domestic tournament in recent years.
- Selected the squad via open trials, with no league performance data to back selections.
- No consistent training camps or fitness programs.
Executive Committee:
- Remains silent on the recurring failures.
- No inquiries, reviews, or structural reforms have followed Sri Lanka’s repeated humiliations — including the U20 Women’s SAFF defeat earlier this year.
Technical & Development Staff:
- No tactical framework or youth development.
- No modern coaching methods or international exposure for players.
The Bigger Problem: Silence and Stagnation
Sri Lanka is not just losing matches — it’s losing direction. The current state of women’s football is not the result of one bad campaign. It’s the product of years of neglect, political appointments, and a failure to treat women’s football with equal priority.
Even now, there is no explanation from the Executive Committee on how the women’s team was prepared or what plans exist for recovery.
Time for a Reset, Not Excuses
If Sri Lanka is serious about competing in international football, the following must be addressed:
- ✅ A national women’s league
- ✅ Provincial and school-level competitions
- ✅ Professional coaching staff and structured fitness programs
- ✅ Regular international friendlies and camps
- ✅ Transparent selection processes based on performance, not politics
🔚 Conclusion
Sri Lanka’s 2026 AFC campaign should not just be remembered for the scorelines — but as a call for change. It is time for every stakeholder — from the Women’s Committee to the Executive — to reflect, respond, and rebuild.
News
Sri Lanka Set to Face UAE in Crucial Rugby Clash Tomorrow in Colombo
The Sri Lanka national rugby team will lock horns with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in a much-anticipated international rugby encounter set to take place today (July 4) at the iconic Racecourse Ground, Colombo.
As part of their final preparations, the Sri Lankan team held an intensive training session today under the watchful eyes of the coaching staff. The team looked sharp, focused, and ready to bring their A-game to home soil.
This clash promises to be a key test for the Tuskers as they look to strengthen their footing in the regional rugby scene and gain momentum ahead of upcoming international competitions. UAE, a rising force in Asian rugby, will also be eyeing a big performance away from home.
Both teams are expected to field strong lineups, and the match is anticipated to draw significant interest from local fans eager to witness top-tier rugby action.
📍 Match Info
🗓️ Date: July 4, 2025
📍 Venue: Racecourse Rugby Grounds, Colombo
🕒 Kick-off: TBA
Stay tuned for live updates, photos, and post-match coverage on Sri Lankan Sports TV.
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