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FFSL clarifies and reiterates matters on selection process for National Teams.

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FFSL wishes to clarify its position on the article published in the Daily News on 19th August 2022 under the caption “National Selector accuses FSL of selection meddling” (Article written by Chris Dhambarage).
FFSL states that all selections of players for various National Teams were carried out in highly transparent and independent manner, selected by an independent five-member Selection Committee appointed by the Ministry of Youth & Sports.

Sri Lanka National Teams including U-17, U-20 and Senior Women’s are scheduled to take part in various SAFF and AFC competitions after a very long time. FFSL states that a record number of players amounting to nearly 2000 have taken part for selection trials for the above three National Teams from all parts of the country.

The selection process for above National Teams were open to all eligible players and selected through a fair selection trials under the purview of the independent five member Selection Committee during the past few weeks.

FFSL reiterates that no interference or influence were entertained during this selection process by higher management of FFSL or any other parties at any stages.

The above paper article quoting the name of selector Naina Mohamed was on the matter of Women’s Team final squad which was settled with a detailed discussion between selectors and the coaching staff.
There were few “different opinions” between the selectors and coaching staff for some positions, which is a normal scenario in finalizing the final squad. However, these opinions are not an interference or meddling in any way but shall be treated as constructive exchange of opinions between coaching staff and selectors.

President of FFSL has convened both selectors and coaching staff for a detailed meeting on the matter today (2022.08.19) including the concerned selector Naina Mohamed, the matter was discussed with constructive opinions with the parties and a solution has been arrived for the betterment of the National Teams in a very transparent manner.

FFSL further states that all National Selectors and Coaching Staff are working very closely with each other even though every one of them are free to make their opinions in democratic way. FFSL also reiterates that there are no meddling or interference by anyone, for the selection process and everyone is working for a common goal to re-start and uplift Football in the country.

ජාතික කණ්ඩායමේ තේරීම්කරුගෙන් එල්ලවූ චෝදනා වලට FFSL පිළිතුරු දක්වයි.

2022 අගෝස්තු 19 වැනි දින ඩේලි නිවුස් පුවත්පතේ “National Selector charges FSL of selection meddling” (ක්‍රිස් දඹරගේ විසින් ලියන ලද ලිපිය) යන මාතෘකාව යටතේ පළ වූ ලිපිය සම්බන්ධයෙන් FFSL සිය ස්ථාවරය පැහැදිලි කරයි.

තරුණ හා ක්‍රීඩා අමාත්‍යාංශය විසින් පත් කරන ලද ස්වාධීන පංච පුද්ගල තේරීම් කමිටුවක් විසින් තෝරා ගන්නා ලද ජාතික කණ්ඩායමේ සියලුම ක්‍රීඩකයින් තේරීම් ඉතා විනිවිදභාවයෙන් සහ ස්වාධීනව සිදු කළ බව FFSL පවසයි.

ඉතා දිගු කාලයකට පසුව විවිධ තරගාවලි සදහා සහභාගී වීමට 17න් පහළ, 20න් පහළ සහ ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ කාන්තා කණ්ඩායම් සූදානම් වේ. ඉහත ජාතික කණ්ඩායම් තුන සඳහා දිවයිනේ සෑම ප්‍රදේශයකින්ම තේරීම් අත්හදා බැලීම් සඳහා වාර්තාගත ක්‍රීඩකයින් 2000 කට ආසන්න සංඛ්‍යාවක් සහභාගී වී ඇති බව FFSL පවසයි.

ඉහත ජාතික කණ්ඩායම් සඳහා තෝරා ගැනීමේ ක්‍රියාවලිය සුදුසුකම් ලත් සියලුම ක්‍රීඩකයින් සඳහා විවෘත වූ අතර පසුගිය සති කිහිපය තුළ ස්වාධීන පස් දෙනෙකුගෙන් යුත් තේරීම් කමිටුවේ අධීක්ෂ්ණය යටතේ සාධාරණ තේරීම් ක්‍රියාවලියක් හරහා තෝරා ගන්නා ලදී.

මෙම තේරීම් ක්‍රියාවලියේදී FFSL හෝ වෙනත් පාර්ශ්වවල ඉහළ කළමනාකාරීත්වය විසින් කිසිදු අයුරකින් මැදිහත්වීමක් හෝ බලපෑමක් සිදු නොකළ බව FFSL නැවත අවධාරණය කරයි.

ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදී ලෙස තම අදහස් ප්‍රකාශ කිරීමට සෑම කෙනෙකුටම නිදහස තිබුණද සියලුම ජාතික තේරීම්කරුවන් සහ පුහුණු කාර්‍යය මණ්ඩලය එකිනෙකා සමඟ ඉතා සමීපව කටයුතු කරන බව FFSL වැඩිදුරටත් සඳහන් කරයි. තේරීම් ක්‍රියාවලිය සඳහා කිසිවකුගේ මැදිහත්වීමක් නොමැති බවත්, රට තුළ පාපන්දු ක්‍රීඩාව නැවත ආරම්භ කිරීමට සහ නඟා සිටුවීමට සියලු දෙනාම පොදු අරමුණක් වෙනුවෙන් කටයුතු කරන බවත් FFSL නැවත අවධාරණය කරයි.

தேசிய அணி தேர்வாளரின் குற்றச்சாட்டுகளுக்கு FFSL பதிலளித்தது.

19 ஆகஸ்ட் 2022 அன்று டெய்லி நியூஸில் “தேர்வு தலையீட்டிற்கு FFSL மீது தேசிய தேர்வாளர் கட்டணம் விதிக்கிறார்” (கிறிஸ் டம்பரேஜ் எழுதியது) என்ற தலைப்பில் வெளியான கட்டுரை தொடர்பாக FFSL தனது நிலைப்பாட்டை தெளிவுபடுத்துகிறது.

தேசிய அணியின் அனைத்து வீரர்களும் இளைஞர் மற்றும் விளையாட்டு அமைச்சினால் நியமிக்கப்பட்ட சுயேச்சையான ஐந்து பேர் கொண்ட தெரிவுக்குழுவினால் தெரிவு செய்யப்பட்டதாகவும், தெரிவுகள் மிகவும் வெளிப்படைத்தன்மையுடனும் சுயாதீனமான முறையிலும் மேற்கொள்ளப்பட்டதாக FFSL தெரிவித்துள்ளது.

நீண்ட நாட்களுக்குப் பிறகு 17 வயதுக்குட்பட்டோர், 20 வயதுக்குட்பட்டோர் மற்றும் சீனியர் மகளிர் அணிகள் பல்வேறு போட்டிகளில் பங்கேற்கத் தயாராகி வருகின்றன. மேற்கூறிய மூன்று தேசிய அணிகளுக்கான தேர்வு சோதனைகளில் நாட்டின் அனைத்துப் பகுதிகளிலிருந்தும் கிட்டத்தட்ட 2000 வீரர்கள் பங்கேற்று சாதனை படைத்துள்ளதாக FFSL தெரிவித்துள்ளது.

மேலே உள்ள தேசிய அணிகளுக்கான தேர்வு செயல்முறை அனைத்து தகுதியான வீரர்களுக்கும் திறந்திருந்தது மற்றும் கடந்த சில வாரங்களாக சுதந்திரமான ஐந்து பேர் கொண்ட தேர்வுக் குழுவின் மேற்பார்வையில் நியாயமான தேர்வு செயல்முறை மூலம் தேர்ந்தெடுக்கப்பட்டது.

FFSL அல்லது பிற கட்சிகளின் உயர் நிர்வாகத்தால் இந்தத் தேர்வுச் செயல்பாட்டில் எந்தத் தலையீடும் அல்லது செல்வாக்கும் இல்லை என்பதை FFSL மீண்டும் வலியுறுத்துகிறது.

அனைத்து தேசிய தேர்வாளர்கள் மற்றும் பயிற்சி ஊழியர்கள் ஒருவருக்கொருவர் மிகவும் நெருக்கமாக பணியாற்றுகிறார்கள், இருப்பினும் அனைவரும் தங்கள் கருத்துக்களை ஜனநாயக ரீதியாக வெளிப்படுத்தலாம் என்று FFSL மேலும் கூறியது. தேர்வுச் செயல்பாட்டில் எவரிடமிருந்தும் குறுக்கீடு இல்லை என்றும், நாட்டில் கால்பந்தாட்டத்தை புத்துயிர் பெறுவதற்கும் மேம்படுத்துவதற்கும் அனைவரும் பொதுவான இலக்கை நோக்கிச் செயல்படுவதாக FFSL மீண்டும் வலியுறுத்துகிறது.

Football

AIFF Faces FIFA, AFC Ban Threat as October 30 Deadline Looms

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Indian football is staring at yet another international suspension as FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) have jointly warned the All India Football Federation (AIFF) to ratify its long-pending constitution by October 30, 2025, or risk a complete ban from world football.

In a strongly-worded two-page letter sent on Tuesday (August 26) to AIFF President Kalyan Chaubey, FIFA and AFC expressed “profound concern” over the failure to finalise and implement a revised constitution, a matter pending before India’s Supreme Court since 2017.

If suspended, India’s national teams and clubs would be barred from all international competitions, while the country’s ambitious 2036 Olympic Games bid in Ahmedabad could also be thrown into uncertainty.

FIFA & AFC Ultimatum

The letter, signed by FIFA’s Chief Member Associations Officer Elkhan Mammadov and AFC Deputy General Secretary Vahid Kardany, set out three urgent requirements for the AIFF:

1. Obtain a definitive Supreme Court order approving the revised constitution.

2. Ensure full compliance with FIFA and AFC statutes.

3. Formally ratify the constitution at the next AIFF General Meeting.

Failure to comply, they warned, would trigger sanctions, including full suspension of AIFF membership.

Previous Suspension in 2022

This is not the first governance crisis to hit Indian football. In August 2022, FIFA suspended the AIFF for “third-party interference” after a court-appointed Committee of Administrators temporarily ran the federation. That ban lasted just two weeks, lifted only after fresh elections were held in which Kalyan Chaubey defeated football legend Bhaichung Bhutia.

Domestic Fallout – ISL in Crisis

The deadlock has already disrupted Indian football at the domestic level. The Indian Super League (ISL), India’s top-tier professional league, has been put “on hold” by Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL), the AIFF’s commercial partner, due to uncertainty over its Master Rights Agreement, which expires in December 2025.

At least three clubs have suspended operations or delayed salaries, while all 11 ISL clubs have warned of an “existential crisis.” Reports from FIFPRO further highlight cases of players’ contracts being terminated, leaving livelihoods at risk.

The Supreme Court of India will hear the matter again on August 28, a session that could determine the immediate future of the ISL and India’s football calendar.

What’s at Stake

If AIFF fails to meet the October deadline, India could lose:

• Participation in FIFA and AFC tournaments.

• Entry rights for national teams and clubs in international competitions.

• Momentum in its 2036 Olympics bid.

• Credibility with players, fans, and commercial partners.

For now, the football fraternity in India waits anxiously for the Supreme Court’s verdict and AIFF’s ability to steer through yet another governance storm

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Football

Heritage Derby Trophy Goes to Hameed Al Husseinie College

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Colombo – Hameed Al Husseinie College emerged victorious in the prestigious Heritage Derby Trophy football encounter against Zahira College, Maradana, securing a 3–1 win at the Colombo Racecourse grounds yesterday.

The match kicked off under the patronage of Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya, adding special significance to this annual football rivalry.

Hameed Al Husseinie College took control early, leading 2–0 at halftime before sealing the victory with a third goal in the second half. Zahira College managed to pull one back, but it was not enough to challenge the dominant performance of the winners.

The trophy presentation was held soon after the final whistle, with the principals of both schools — Rizvi Marikkar of Zahira College and Mrs. Dain of Hameed Al Husseinie College — present to witness the celebrations.

This latest victory adds another chapter to the rich history of the Heritage Derby, further cementing Hameed Al Husseinie College’s reputation in school football.

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Football

Exclusive: AFC Fines Sri Lankan Footballer Over “Free Palestine” Message

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Colombo – June 13
Sri Lankan national footballer Mohamed Thilham, who recently made headlines after displaying a “PRAY FOR FREE PALESTINE” message on his undershirt during post-match celebrations, has now been officially penalized by international football authorities.

Following Sri Lanka’s 3-1 victory over Chinese Taipei in the AFC Asian Cup 2027 Qualifiers on June 10 at the Colombo Racecourse Stadium, Thilham—a non-playing substitute—unveiled the message, drawing both praise and criticism from various quarters.

⚠️ AFC Sanctions Player with USD 2,000 Fine

FIFA, in coordination with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), has now issued a formal disciplinary notice to the player, imposing a USD 2,000 fine. This letter, according to sources within the Football Federation of Sri Lanka (FFSL), was sent addressing to Thilham, underscoring AFC stance on politically charged expressions at official matches.

According to FIFA’s Disciplinary Code, players are prohibited from displaying political, religious, or personal slogans during matches or official ceremonies. While Thilham’s gesture occurred after the final whistle, FIFA and AFC treat any action within the stadium environment as part of official conduct.

⚽ FFSL Under Scrutiny for Disciplinary Action

FFSL President Jaswar Umar previously stated that the act “was not authorized by the federation” and “violates international football disciplinary norms.” He also confirmed that the FFSL would take internal disciplinary action against the player.

However, this incident has reignited public debate over the role of athletes in social advocacy and the limits imposed by international sports law. While some supporters see Thilham’s actions as courageous and morally driven, others have raised concerns about the player’s career stability and future opportunities under increasing scrutiny.

📝 Editorial Insight

At Sri Lankan Sports TV, we initially chose to withhold the content of the message in our match coverage—out of responsibility to the player’s career and to respect global sports protocol. However, the message went viral after several social media users circulated the full image, seemingly with the intention of sparking controversy.

The resulting spotlight has unfortunately led to a formal penalty, underscoring the real-world consequences that athletes may face when international regulations intersect with personal conviction.

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