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Football administration doesn’t need a Shop boss – Sunil Senaveera (Video)
Mr Sunil Senaveera, a former secretary of the Football Federation, said that the football federation election is scheduled to be held next Saturday (14), and the football administration does not need a moneylender but a sports administrator.
We all have a big question about whether there is a future for football in Sri Lanka. We are in 207th place in the world rankings. The cause of this crisis is the weakness of the administrators. He said that the former president and secretaries of the football association had no feelings to develop football.
Several letters were sent to the Ministry of Sports to investigate the corruption scams in the Football Federation. But after about a month, when I inquired about it, the letters were missing. Who should be responsible for such incidents should be investigated immediately.

Several parties such as FIFA, the Asian Football Confederation, and the Ministry of Sports said that the constitution of the Sri Lanka Football Federation should be amended. But the President and the executive committee were not interested in this at all.
Now the former president and the executive committee should take responsibility for everything that has happened to football. Because of them only, this situation turned into a serious problem. Transparency was not to be seen in this administration. All the financial transactions have taken place without any approval of the Executive Committee.
There are only 2 days left for the football election. No one knows who the contestants are. It is not possible to carry out an election in this way. Former Secretary Sunil Senaveera said this at a press conference held in Colombo.
පාපන්දු පරිපාලනයට අවශ්ය වන්නේ මුදාලි කෙනෙකු නොවේ – සුනිල් සෙනවීර
ලබන සෙනසුරාදා දින (14) පාපන්දු නිලවරණය පැවැත්වීමට නියමිත අතර, පාපන්දු පරිපාලනයට අවශ්ය වන්නේ මුදලාලි කෙනෙකු නොව ක්රීඩා පරිපාලකයෙකු බව පාපන්දු සම්මේලනයේ හිටපු ලේකම්වරයෙකු වන සුනිල් සෙනෙවිරත්න මහතා පැවසීය.
ශ්රී ලංකාවේ පාපන්දුවට අනාගතයක් තියෙනවද යන්න පිළිබදව අපි සෑම දෙනාටම ලොකු ප්රශ්නයක් තියෙනව. ලෝක ශ්රේණිගත කිරීම්හි අපි ඉන්නේ 207 වන ස්ථානයේ. මෙම අර්බුදයට හේතුව වන්නේ පරිපාලකයන්ගේ දුර්වලතාවය. හිටපු පාපන්දු සංගමයේ සභාපති, ලේකම්ලට පාපන්දුව දියුණු කිරීමට කිසිදු හැගීමක් තිබුනෙ නෑ යනුවෙන් එතුමා ප්රකාශ කලහ.
පාපන්දු සම්මේලනයේ ඇති දූෂණ වංචා පිළිබදව සොයා බැලීමට ලිපි කිහිපයක්ම ක්රීඩා අමාත්යංශයට යොමු කලා. නමුත් මාසයක් වැනි කාලයකට පසුව ගිහින් ඒ පිළිබදව විමසීමකදී එම ලිපි අස්ථානගත වෙලා. මෙවැනි සිද්ධීන් වලට වග කිව යුත්තේ කවුරුන්දු කියා වහාම සොයා බැලිය යුතුය.
ශ්රී ලංකා පාපන්දු සම්මේලනයේ ව්යවස්ථාව සංශෝධනය විය යුතුයි කියල පාර්ශව කිහිපයක්ම පවසල තියෙනව. ඒ අතරට ලෝක පාපන්දු සම්මේලනය, ආසියානු පාපන්දු සම්මේලනය, ක්රීඩා අමාත්යංශය මෙයට අයත් වෙනව. නමුත් හිටපු සභාපති ඇතුළු විධායක කමිටුව මෙයට කිසි සේත් උනන්දු උනේ නෑ.
දැන් මේ පාපන්දුවට සිදු වෙලා තියෙන සියලු දේ වගකීම හිටපු සභාපති ඇතුළු විධායක කමිටුව භාරගත යුතුයි. එයාල නිසා තමා මේ තත්වය මෙතරම් බැරෑරුම් තත්වයකට හැරුනේ. මෙම පරිපාලනය තුළ විනිවිධභාවය කියන දේ දකින්න තිබුනෙ නෑ. සිදු වන වියදම් සම්භන්ධයෙන් කිසිම විධායක කමිටු අනුමැතියකින් තොරව මෙම සියලුම මූල්ය ගණුදෙනු සිදුව තිබෙන්නේ.
පාපන්දු නිලවරණයට තව තිබෙන්නේ දවස් 2යි. කිසිදු කෙනෙක් දන්නේ නෑ නියෝජිතයන් කවුද කියන්න. මේ ආකාරයට නිළවරණ පැවැත්වීම කළ නොහැකියි. කොළබ පැවති මාධ්ය හමුවකදී මේ බව හිටපු ලේකම් සුනිල් සෙනෙවිරත්න මහතා පැවසීය.
கால்பந்தாட்ட நிர்வாகத்திற்கு முதலாளி தேவையில்லை – சுனில் சேனவீர
உதைபந்தாட்ட சம்மேளனத்தின் முன்னாள் செயலாளர் திரு.சுனில் செனவிரத்ன, உதைபந்தாட்ட அலுவலகத் தேர்தல் எதிர்வரும் சனிக்கிழமை (14) நடைபெறவுள்ளதாகவும், உதைபந்தாட்ட நிர்வாகத்திற்கு பணம் கொடுப்பவர் தேவையில்லை, விளையாட்டு நிர்வாகியே தேவை எனவும் தெரிவித்தார்.
இலங்கையில் கால்பந்தாட்டத்திற்கு எதிர்காலம் இருக்கிறதா என்ற பெரிய கேள்வி நம் அனைவருக்கும் உள்ளது. உலக தரவரிசையில் 207வது இடத்தில் உள்ளோம். இந்த நெருக்கடிக்கு காரணம் நிர்வாகிகளின் பலவீனம்தான். உதைபந்தாட்ட சங்கத்தின் முன்னாள் தலைவர் மற்றும் செயலாளர்களுக்கு கால்பந்தாட்டத்தை வளர்க்க வேண்டும் என்ற உணர்வு இல்லை என அவர் தெரிவித்துள்ளார்.
சம்மேளனத்தில் இடம்பெற்ற ஊழல் மோசடிகளை விசாரிக்குமாறு விளையாட்டு அமைச்சுக்கு பாண்டு பல கடிதங்களை அனுப்பினார். ஆனால் ஒரு மாதத்திற்குப் பிறகு, நான் அதைப் பற்றி விசாரித்தபோது, கடிதங்களைக் காணவில்லை. இதுபோன்ற சம்பவங்களுக்கு யார் பொறுப்பேற்க வேண்டும் என்பதை உடனடியாக விசாரிக்க வேண்டும்.
இலங்கை உதைபந்தாட்ட சம்மேளனத்தின் அரசியலமைப்பு திருத்தப்பட வேண்டும் என பல தரப்பினரும் தெரிவித்து வருகின்றனர். அவற்றில், உலக கால்பந்து கூட்டமைப்பு, ஆசிய கால்பந்து கூட்டமைப்பு மற்றும் விளையாட்டு அமைச்சகம் ஆகியவை இதில் அடங்கும். ஆனால் முன்னாள் தலைவரும், செயற்குழுவும் இதில் ஆர்வம் காட்டவே இல்லை.
இப்போது இந்த கால்பந்தாட்டத்திற்கு நடந்த அனைத்திற்கும் முன்னாள் ஜனாதிபதியும் செயற்குழுவும் பொறுப்பேற்க வேண்டும். அவர்களால், இந்த நிலைமை மிகவும் தீவிரமான சூழ்நிலையாக மாறியது. இந்த நிர்வாகத்தில் பன்முகத்தன்மை காணப்படவில்லை. இந்த நிதி பரிவர்த்தனைகள் அனைத்தும், செலவினம் காரணமாக செயற்குழுவின் எந்த அனுமதியும் இன்றி நடந்துள்ளது.
கால்பந்து அதிகாரப்பூர்வ தேர்தலுக்கு இன்னும் 2 நாட்களே உள்ளன. பிரதிநிதிகள் யார் என்று யாருக்கும் தெரியாது. இவ்வாறு தேர்தல் நடத்த முடியாது. கொழும்பில் நடைபெற்ற ஊடகவியலாளர் சந்திப்பில் முன்னாள் செயலாளர் சுனில் சேனவீர இதனை தெரிவித்தார்.
Football
AIFF Faces FIFA, AFC Ban Threat as October 30 Deadline Looms
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
Football
Heritage Derby Trophy Goes to Hameed Al Husseinie College
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.
Football
Exclusive: AFC Fines Sri Lankan Footballer Over “Free Palestine” Message
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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