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

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.
Cricket
Kamindu Mendis Shines as Sunrisers Hyderabad Break Chepauk Curse, Crush CSK’s Playoff Hopes | IPL 2025
Sri Lankan all-rounder Kamindu Mendis delivered under pressure, helping Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) script a historic first-ever win over Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium during the IPL 2025 season.
Chasing a tricky target of 155, Mendis played a composed and crucial unbeaten knock of 32 off 22 balls, stitching an unbroken 49-run partnership with Nitish Kumar to seal a five-wicket victory with eight balls to spare. His calm presence at the crease when the game was delicately poised underlined his growing stature in T20 cricket.
Earlier, the Chennai Super Kings, once invincible at home, continued their disastrous 2025 campaign — suffering a fourth consecutive home defeat. Batting first, CSK stumbled despite a promising start, collapsing to 154 all out. Dewald Brevis impressed briefly on debut with a quickfire 42 runs, but it was Harshal Patel’s brilliant spell (4 wickets for 28 runs) that broke CSK’s backbone.
For CSK, promising youngster Ayush Mhatre shone early, but a middle-order collapse proved costly. Even skipper M.S. Dhoni’s tactical gamble of giving Sam Curran two overs backfired, as SRH batters capitalized to turn the game.
In the SRH chase, despite early hiccups — losing Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head quickly — Ishan Kishan’s fluent 44 and Kamindu Mendis’ finishing touch ensured Hyderabad stayed alive in the playoff race.
Meanwhile, in the updated IPL 2025 points table, Sunrisers Hyderabad now sits 8th with 6 points, while CSK languishes at the bottom with just 4 points from 9 games, effectively ending their playoff dreams.
Mendis’ all-round contribution, including a key wicket earlier, and his coolness in the chase were pivotal. While Harshal Patel deservedly took the Player of the Match award, Sri Lanka can proudly celebrate Kamindu’s evolving prowess on the IPL stage.
Points Table Update (After SRH vs CSK Match):
- GT, DC, and RCB are leading the race with 12 points each.
- PBKS and MI are close behind with 11 and 10 points.
- CSK and RR are at the bottom with just 4 points, all but knocked out of the playoffs.
News
Kaya Daluwatte and Reshan Algama Shine at 16th Faldo Series Asia Grand Final in Vietnam
Sri Lanka’s promising golf talents Kaya Daluwatte and Reshan Algama showcased their growing international class with stellar performances at the prestigious 16th Faldo Series Asia Grand Final, held at the stunning Laguna Golf Lang Co in Vietnam.
Facing off against the finest junior golfers from the Asia-Pacific region—including representatives from Australia, England, Japan, India, and Wales—both Kaya and Reshan rose to the occasion, underlining Sri Lanka’s emerging strength in the sport.
Kaya Daluwatte delivered one of her career-best performances, finishing as the runner-up in the Girls’ Under-16 category. After three composed rounds, she posted a remarkable final score of even-par 216, highlighted by an impressive 2-under-par finish in the final round. Despite Japan’s Al Goto clinching the title with a score of 213, Kaya’s climb up the leaderboard captured widespread admiration. Her poise, precision, and birdies during the crucial back-nine holes showcased a maturity well beyond her years.
This runner-up finish at one of Asia’s top junior championships marks a historic achievement for Sri Lankan golf, signaling that the nation’s junior golfers are ready to challenge the region’s traditional powerhouses.
In the Boys’ Under-16 category, Reshan Algama also left his mark by securing a strong fourth-place finish with a gross score of 218. Although his final round did not match the brilliance of his earlier efforts, Reshan displayed commendable composure against a highly competitive international field. His consistency across top-level tournaments reflects his rapid development into a serious contender on the global junior golf circuit.
Vietnam’s Tuan Anh Nguyen dominated the Boys’ division, leading from start to finish to claim the title with a superb score of 205. India’s Arshvant Srivastava and Kanav Chauhan finished second and third, with scores of 214 and 216 respectively.
Kaya and Reshan’s performances not only bring pride to Sri Lanka but also signal a bright future for the country’s junior golfing scene on the Asian stage.
Football
SAFF Championship Postponement Exposes Deeper Issues Within FFSL
The much-anticipated SAFF Championship, originally scheduled to take place in Sri Lanka in July 2025, has now been officially postponed to 2026—a move that has raised serious concerns over the competence and credibility of the Football Federation of Sri Lanka (FFSL).
According to the SAFF Executive Committee, the decision to delay the tournament stemmed largely from pressure exerted by its marketing partner, Sportfive, which advocated for a home-and-away format to increase commercial value. Furthermore, it is reported that Sportfive preferred the event be hosted in Bangladesh or India, citing better sponsor access and commercial feasibility in those countries if the tournament were to follow a centralized model.
However, beyond external pressure, this development highlights a troubling reality: the FFSL’s inability to effectively organize and defend Sri Lanka’s hosting rights on the international stage. This isn’t merely a scheduling issue—it reflects a deeper pattern of administrative shortcomings, lack of vision, and prioritization of media narratives over tangible development.
As previously reported by Sri Lankan Sports TV, the FFSL continues to focus more on optics and media stunts rather than on the foundational work required to uplift football in the country. The failure to safeguard Sri Lanka’s opportunity to host a major regional tournament not only affects the sport’s growth domestically but also damages the nation’s reputation within South Asian football.
For a federation that has long promised reform and transparency, this latest setback exposes how little progress has actually been made. When commercial partners have more sway than the national football body itself, it’s a clear indication that local football governance is being undermined by weak leadership and poor planning.
This should be a wake-up call—not just for the FFSL, but for every stakeholder invested in the future of Sri Lankan football. The time for slogans and staged announcements is over. Sri Lanka needs action, accountability, and genuine commitment to building a sustainable footballing culture. Until then, headlines like this will only continue to reflect a sport lost in mismanagement.
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