News

Football administration doesn’t need a Shop boss – Sunil Senaveera (Video)

Published

2 years ago

January 12, 2023

Editor

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.

News

Sri Lanka Set to Face UAE in Crucial Rugby Clash Tomorrow in Colombo

Published

2 days ago

July 4, 2025

Editor

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.

Football

Sri Lanka Women Crushed 8-0 by Nepal in AFC Qualifiers – Tactical Collapse Raises Alarm

Published

3 days ago

July 2, 2025

Editor

Colombo, July 2 – Sri Lanka Women’s National Football Team suffered another brutal defeat in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2026 Qualifiers, going down 8-0 to a confident and clinical Nepalese side. Coming just days after a 10-0 hammering by Uzbekistan, this latest loss highlights deeper tactical, technical, and structural issues within Sri Lanka’s women’s football system.

Full-Time Score: Sri Lanka 0 – 8 Nepal

Half-Time: 0 – 4
Venue: Group F – AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2026 Qualifiers

Key Match Statistics

Stat	Sri Lanka Women	Nepal Women
Possession	50%	50%
Total Shots	4	26
Shots on Target	3	18
Shots off Target	1	8
Expected Goals (xG)	0.60	3.76
Corners	0	14
Fouls	4	6
Cards	0	0
Offsides	0	3

Tactical Breakdown – Why Sri Lanka Lost 8-0

Despite the possession being even at 50%, Sri Lanka was thoroughly outplayed. This is a classic case where possession stats mislead the reality on the pitch.

1. Poor Defensive Organization

Sri Lanka conceded 14 corners and 18 shots on target, indicating that Nepal constantly penetrated both flanks and delivered into the box unchallenged.
There was no compact defensive line, and Nepal exploited space behind Sri Lanka’s fullbacks repeatedly.

2. Ineffective Midfield Structure

While Sri Lanka held possession equally, it was largely passive and in non-threatening zones.
Nepal, on the other hand, converted their possession into 3.76 xG, showing how effective and vertical their transitions were.

3. Repeated Failures in Closing Down Key Players

Sabitra Bhandari scored a hat-trick within 26 minutes (14’, 36’, 40’) and was left unmarked multiple times.
Nepal’s attackers were given space and time to shoot – evident from the 18 shots on target.

4. No Offensive Threat

Sri Lanka managed only 4 shots in the entire game, with an xG of just 0.60.
With no corners and no real pressing, the team offered nothing going forward, allowing Nepal to push numbers up comfortably.

Back-to-Back Heavy Losses: Structural Failures Exposed

This defeat comes after a 10-0 loss to Uzbekistan, meaning Sri Lanka has now conceded 18 goals in two matches without scoring once.

This isn’t just a reflection of players’ on-field performance — it’s a glaring indictment of:

FFSL’s failure to conduct any women’s football league in years
A rushed team selection based on a short trial, without competitive match practice
No structured coaching program or international exposure
Lack of scouting, fitness programs, and tactical planning

Nepal, though not an Asian powerhouse, had better coaching structure, player chemistry, and clear tactics, which led to their dominance.

What’s Next for Sri Lanka?

If the Football Federation of Sri Lanka (FFSL) and the Ministry of Sports continue to ignore these warning signs, Sri Lanka risks becoming irrelevant in women’s football on the Asian stage.

What’s needed:

✅ A proper national women’s league
✅ Regular youth-level competitions and scouting
✅ Appointing qualified coaching staff with modern tactical knowledge
✅ Consistent international exposure for players

Conclusion

An 8-0 defeat to Nepal isn’t just a bad result — it’s a mirror held up to a broken system. Unless real change is implemented beyond symbolic participation, these results will become Sri Lanka’s norm in women’s football.

News

Top International Referees to Officiate High-Profile Dialog Schools Rugby Matches in Sri Lanka

Published

3 days ago

July 2, 2025

Editor

Colombo – In a significant boost for school-level rugby in Sri Lanka, two internationally renowned referees from Hong Kong have been appointed to officiate key Dialog Schools A Division Rugby League matches this weekend.

Sunny Lee to Referee Pathana–Thomian Clash

Sunny Lee, a celebrated female international rugby referee from Hong Kong, will take charge of the much-anticipated encounter between S. Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia and Isipathana College, Colombo. The prestigious Rizvy Suhayb Memorial Trophy match is set for July 5 at S. Thomas’ College Grounds, Mount Lavinia.

Lee’s presence is expected to bring elite-level officiating standards to this traditional rivalry, enhancing the competitive environment and offering student-athletes a platform to perform under world-class match management.

Francisco Cammisa to Oversee Trinity vs Royal Clash

On the same day in Kandy, another experienced Hong Kong referee, Francisco Cammisa, will officiate the top-tier fixture between Trinity College, Kandy and Royal College, Colombo at the Pallekele Rugby Stadium.

International Support for Local Rugby

The arrival of these elite foreign referees is made possible through the efforts of Dilroy Fernando, former international referee and referee educator. With backing from Asian Rugby (covering airfares) and the host schools (providing accommodation and hospitality), this initiative aims to uplift officiating standards and offer young Sri Lankan players the opportunity to compete at a globally recognized level.

Long-Term Impact on School Rugby

This strategic move is expected to:

Enhance the quality and fairness of officiating in the Dialog Schools Rugby League
Give emerging players exposure to world-class rugby conditions
Strengthen partnerships between Sri Lankan rugby institutions and international bodies

The involvement of international referees like Sunny Lee and Francisco Cammisa also sends a strong message about gender inclusivity and professional standards in the sport