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Fruitful Virtual Conference held with FIFA representatives via Zoom

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The Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs Hon. Roshan Ranasinghe was engaged in a video conference with the representatives of the International Football Federation today (10).

The meeting was conducted to discuss the way forward plan to lift the FIFA ban and the current situation of Sri Lankan Football.

This discussion ended with a positive note to lifting the ban imposed on Sri Lanka.

The Minister’s attention was drawn to the matters presented by the representatives of the International Football Federation. The minister also emphasized the difficulties faced by football players due to the ban imposed and the fact that they will not get a chance to participate in the World Cup qualification matches to be held in September.

The minister requested the international football representatives to assist and provide the necessary background to remove the ban based on the agreement of the two parties and give the Sri Lankan football team the opportunity to participate in the World Cup qualification matches. They agreed to consider the request.

Hoping for a favourable result of lifting the ban on football and allowing the Sri Lankan football team to participate in above said tournament, a speedy mechanism will be prepared to implement the discussed matters and work according to the agreements.

Participants in this discussion: Mr. Kenny Jean Marie (Chief Member Association Officer FIFA), Mr. Wahid Kardany (Member Association AFC), Ms. Sarah Solemale (Senior Manager – Member Associations Governance FIFA), Mr.K.Mahesan (Secretary – Ministry of Sports & Youth Affairs, Mr. Gamini Wikramapala (DG -Planning – Ministry of Sports & Youth Affairs, Mr. Sumathi Dharmawardhena (PC – Additional Solicitor General, Attorney General’s Departments), Mr. Rajika Aluwihare (Attorney General’s Departments)

Zoom හරහා FIFA නියෝජිතයන් සමඟ පවත්වන ලද අද පැවති සාකච්ඡාව.

ක්‍රීඩා හා යෞවන කටයුතු අමාත්‍ය ගරු. රොෂාන් රණසිංහ අද (10) ජාත්‍යන්තර පාපන්දු සම්මේලනයේ නියෝජිතයින් සමඟ වීඩියෝ සම්මන්ත්‍රණයක නිරත විය.

FIFA තහනම ඉවත් කිරීමේ ඉදිරි සැලැස්ම සහ ශ්‍රී ලංකා පාපන්දු ක්‍රීඩාවේ වත්මන් තත්ත්වය පිළිබඳව සාකච්ඡා කිරීම සඳහා මෙම රැස්වීම පවත්වන ලදී.

මෙම සාකච්ඡාව අවසන් වූයේ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට පනවා ඇති තහනම ඉවත් කිරීමට ධනාත්මක සටහනක් තබමිනි.

එහිදී ජාත්‍යන්තර පාපන්දු සම්මේලනයේ නියෝජිතයින් ඉදිරිපත් කළ කරුණු සම්බන්ධයෙන් අමාත්‍යවරයාගේ අවධානය යොමු විය. පනවා ඇති තහනම හේතුවෙන් පාපන්දු ක්‍රීඩකයින් මුහුණ දෙන දුෂ්කරතා සහ සැප්තැම්බර් මාසයේ පැවැත්වීමට නියමිත ලෝක කුසලාන සුදුසුකම් ලැබීමේ තරඟ සඳහා සහභාගී වීමට අවස්ථාවක් නොලැබෙන බව ද අමාත්‍යවරයා අවධාරණය කළේය.

දෙපාර්ශවයේ එකඟතාවය මත තහනම ඉවත් කර ශ්‍රී ලංකා පාපන්දු කණ්ඩායමට ලෝක කුසලාන සුදුසුකම් ලැබීමේ තරග සඳහා සහභාගි වීමට අවස්ථාව ලබාදීමට අවශ්‍ය පසුබිම සලසන ලෙස අමාත්‍යවරයා ජාත්‍යන්තර පාපන්දු නියෝජිතයින්ගෙන් ඉල්ලා සිටි අතර එම ඉල්ලීම සලකා බැලීමට ඔවුන් එකඟ විය.

පාපන්දු තහනම ඉවත් කර, ශ්‍රී ලංකා පාපන්දු කණ්ඩායමට ඉහත කී තරගාවලියට සහභාගි වීමට ඉඩ සැලසීමේ යහපත් ප්‍රතිඵලයක් අපේක්ෂාවෙන්, සාකච්ඡා කර ඇති කරුණු ක්‍රියාත්මක කර ගිවිසුම් අනුව කටයුතු කිරීමට කඩිනම් යාන්ත්‍රණයක් සකස් කිරීමට නියමිතව ඇත.

මෙම සාකච්ඡාවට සහභාගී වූවන්: Kenny Jean Marie මහතා (FIFA ප්‍රධාන සාමාජික සංගමයේ නිලධාරි), Wahid Kardany මහතා (AFC සාමාජික සංගමය), Sarah Solemale (ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ කළමනාකරු – සාමාජික සංගම් පාලනය FIFA), K. මහේසන් මහතා (ලේකම් – ක්‍රීඩා සහ යෞවන කටයුතු අමාත්‍යාංශය, ගාමිණී වික්‍රමපාල මහතා (DG-සැලසුම් – ක්‍රීඩා හා යෞවන කටයුතු අමාත්‍යාංශය, සුමති ධර්මවර්ධන මහතා (PC – අතිරේක සොලිසිටර් ජනරාල්, නීතිපති දෙපාර්තමේන්තු), රාජික අලුවිහාරේ මහතා (නීතිපති දෙපාර්තමේන්තු)

Football

Stafford vs. Colombo International: The Second Edition of the Big Match Kicks Off!

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Football fever returns as Stafford International School and Colombo International School gear up for the second edition of their highly anticipated Big Match! This year, the rivalry intensifies with four matches across different age and gender categories:

U15 Girls
U15 Boys
U20 Girls
U20 Boys

🏆 Stafford International’s Rising Stars:

  • U15 Girls: Defending TISSL U14 and Colombo SLSFA District champions, featuring standout players like Keshalee Ranatunga and Sonja Ratanayake (just 10 years old!).
  • U15 Boys: All-Island U14 runners-up out of 462 schools, led by goalkeeper Yash Amarasekara, who was named Best U14 GK in Sri Lanka.
  • U20 Girls & Boys: Both teams finished as TISSL runners-up, boasting stars like Raya Rikaz, Yumna Safraz, Adnaan Ameen, and Nidurshan Mohan.

🏆 Colombo International’s Key Players:

  • U15 Girls: TISSL U16 runners-up, featuring top defender Khadeeja Niyas and striker Ozra.
  • U20 Girls: TISSL U20 runners-up, with Fioni Dedhia named Goalkeeper of the Tournament.
  • U20 Boys: Defending Big Match champions, looking to retain their title behind stars like Krishwen and Habib.

👀 Who will come out on top this time? Watch the action LIVE at the link below! 🎥👇

#BigMatch2025 #SchoolFootball #SriLankaFootball #StaffordVsCIS #RivalryRenewed

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Cricket

Shammi Silva Re-Elected as Sri Lanka Cricket President for Fourth Consecutive Term

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Shammi Silva has been re-elected as the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) president for the 2025-27 term, marking his fourth consecutive tenure at the helm of the nation’s cricket governing body. Silva secured the position uncontested at the 64th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Colombo on Monday.

A Controversial Yet Dominant Tenure

Silva’s leadership has not been without controversy. His previous term saw a high-profile clash with former Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe in 2023, which led to an interim committee being appointed after Sri Lanka’s poor performance in the ICC ODI World Cup. This move resulted in ICC suspending SLC, which led to Sri Lanka losing the hosting rights for the U19 Men’s World Cup, which was later held in South Africa.

Despite these setbacks, Silva regained control after a court ruling reinstated his administration, and he was later appointed as the president of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) in December 2023, replacing Jay Shah.

Challenges & Future Outlook

Sri Lanka Cricket has long been seen as a powerful and influential body, with internal politics often shaping its leadership. With financial mismanagement concerns highlighted in the Auditor General’s report, Silva’s administration faces the challenge of restoring credibility and ensuring better governance.

With the ICC ban lifted, Sri Lanka looks to rebuild its cricketing structure and improve performance on the international stage. The focus now shifts to upcoming bilateral series, the Asia Cup, and preparations for the 2027 ICC Cricket World Cup.

Stay tuned for more updates on Sri Lanka Cricket and the latest in the world of sports!

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Cricket

Stephen Fleming Defends MS Dhoni’s Batting Position Amid Criticism

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Chennai Super Kings (CSK) head coach Stephen Fleming has defended MS Dhoni’s late entry in the batting order, stating that the legendary wicketkeeper-batsman cannot play an extended innings at full intensity due to lingering knee concerns.

The 43-year-old Dhoni faced criticism after coming in at No. 9 during CSK’s 50-run loss to Royal Challengers Bengaluru at Chepauk. In the next match against Rajasthan Royals on March 30, 2025, he batted at No. 7 when CSK required 54 off 25 balls but managed just 16 off 11 as his team fell short by six runs.

Fleming’s Explanation on Dhoni’s Role

Fleming emphasized that Dhoni carefully assesses the match situation before deciding when to bat.

“It’s all about timing. MS judges his body and situation. His knees aren’t what they used to be, so he can’t bat for 10 overs at full intensity. He will step in based on the game’s demands,” Fleming explained at the post-match press conference.

The CSK coach reiterated that Dhoni remains too valuable to the team for his leadership and wicketkeeping and that sending him in too early could be a strategic misstep.

“From around the 13th or 14th over, he assesses the situation and decides. He trusts other batters early on but steps up when needed.”

CSK’s Struggles in the Powerplay Cost Them the Match

Fleming also pinpointed CSK’s poor powerplay performance as a key reason for their loss against Rajasthan Royals. While RR blasted 79/1 in the powerplay, CSK only managed 42/1,

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