Former Sri Lanka football star Naina Mohammed urged all affiliated leagues in Football Sri Lanka (FSL) to think of their children and the future development of the sport in the country before handing over power to officials at the forthcoming elections.
“You know about each and every one. Think carefully before you vote (on September 29). Think of the future of children in your villages if you want to develop football in the country,” said the former Zahira, York SC, and Sri Lanka striker making an earnest appeal for a change in the system of football governance.
“Friendship is different. You (leagues) will be responsible for whatever happens in the future. Thereafter don’t complain that this president or that president is not good or bad. This is a good chance to bring about real change in football administration. I am not supporting any faction contesting the elections. This is my honest opinion,” said Naina in a candid interview on the state of football in the country.
“I watch children play at Zahira and at under 20 level. There are many young talented players around the island. If we select about 40 players, in two or three years we can build a good team,” said Naina who has been playing football since the age of six.
“All those in leagues and even those in parliament should think carefully and make a good decision. If the sport becomes politicized or politicians get involved in sports, this won’t work,” he said without pulling punches.
“Before casting your preference to anyone, just think whether they delivered on their promises when they were in power,” he said.
A national selector during the last two years, Naina had a ringside view of football administration during a tumultuous period for the sport in the country. Charges of corruption and third-party interference resulted in the world governing body FIFA suspending Sri Lanka in January. It was lifted in August to allow Sri Lanka to compete in the World Cup qualifiers in October next month on conditions that FSL elections were held in accordance with FIFA statutes.
“They were only showing what they were doing for the senior national team. They don’t look after other teams. There was no grassroots development,” he pointed out.
He also queried about the quality of food given to the national pool when they were training at Baddegana Football Complex. “They were given normal or sub-standard food without any consideration for calorie intake. I have no idea how much they were spending on food. There was a good food supplier but he must be delivering according to the budget. They did not have nutritious meals, just normal diet like red rice, dhal, pol sambol etc,” he said.
When it came to picking coaches and players for tours, he claimed it went in favor of pleasing their friends or merely to help some former players.
“I have seen eight teams during my tenure but apart from three – Anura Sampath, Deva, and Amanullah – the others were not suitable coaches. They appoint unknown coaches whom they like just to help their families or just because they have played football in the past and to help them. This was the system they were following,” he claimed.
The most glaring practice was interference in selections sometimes without the knowledge of the national selectors.
“They make subtle requests to include someone from their favored leagues during every team selection. It is very difficult to select. In most instances, 90 percent is our choice and 10 percent is that of FSL officials. When the girls’ team was selected three players were included without our knowledge. We were helpless because if we objected, the team would not have. My conscience pricked knowing we had left out three deserving players,” he said.
Naina also questioned the role played by Chaminda Steinwall as head of FSL’s Technical Committee for Football Development. “He has been there for over 10 years but nothing has happened. On top of that when an under-17 and 19 tournament was taking place in Sri Lanka, he went as coach of a girl’s team to Nepal. This is a conflict of interest because as Technical Director he must talent scout future players. His job is not coaching,” said Naina.
He could not resist taking a jab at former FSL president Jaswar Umar who has joined hands with former president Ranjith Rodrigo and former vice president Dr Manil Fernando to seek office once again. A team led by former Sri Lanka youth player Dacshitha Sumathipala is contesting them on September 29.
“Jaswar plays to the gallery. He supports the league with the objective of getting votes in the next election. He never did anything to develop football,” said Naina Mohammed making a damning statement.
“When national teams go abroad, their jerseys, boots, and deck shoes are given only a day before their departure. Coach Amanullah once made a complaint to me about this,” he said.
He is also irked by the fact that the national selection committee appointed by the Ministry of Sports was not consulted when the national pool was reconvened for the World Cup qualifiers. “When I asked Deshapriya (head of football administration committee), he was clueless. Even though FSL was suspended, we were appointed by the ministry and are responsible for the selection of national teams,” he asserted.
“The bottom line is if Jaswar is elected again, Sri Lanka football will not come up again,” he declared.
ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ බිහි වූ පාපන්දුව තරුවක් වන නෙයිනා මොහොමඩ් විසින් සියලුම පාපන්දු ලීගයන් වෙත කල කාරුණික ඉල්ලීම.
ඉදිරි නිලවරණයේදී නිලධාරීන් මත බලය පැවරීමට පෙර තම දරුවන් සහ රටේ ක්‍රීඩාවේ අනාගත දියුනුව ගැන වෙනදාට වඩා ගැබුරින් සිතා බලන ලෙස හිටපු පාපන්දු තරුව නෙයිනා මොහොමඩ් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ හී සියලුම අනුබද්ධ ලීගයන්ගෙන් ඉල්ලා සිටී.
ඔබ පෙර සිටි සෑම කෙනෙක්ම ගැන හොන්දින් දන්නවා සැප්තැම්බර 29 දින ඡන්දය දීමට පෙර හොන්දින් සිතා බලන්න,ඔබට රටතුල පාපනදු ක්‍රීඩාව සංවර්ධනය කිරීමට සැබෑ වුවමනාවක් අවශ්‍යනමි ඔබේ ගම්වල දරුවන්ගේ අනාගතය ගැන තීරණාත්මකව සිතන්න. පැවති පාපන්දු පාලන ක්‍රමයේ වෙනසක අවශ්‍යතාවය ඔබ තේරුම්ගත යුතුය.
පාපන්දුව තුල පවතින මිත්‍රත්වය වෙනස්.ඔබ තීරනාත්මක ගන්නා තීන්දුව තුල අනාගතයේදී පාපන්දුව වෙත සිදුවන ඕනෑම දෙයක් සදහා ඔබ (ලීගයන්) වගකිය යුතුය. මන්ද යත් වැරදි තීරනයක ප්‍රතිපලය බොහෝ සේ භයානක විය හැකිය. පසුව ඔබ විසින් පත් කල සභාපති හරි නෑ හොඳ නෑ කියලා මැසිවිලි නගලා පලක් නෑ. පාපන්දු ක්‍රීඩාවේ පරිපාලනයේ සැබෑ වෙනසක් ඇති කිරීමට මෙය හොඳම අවස්ථාවක්. මම කිසිම කන්ඩායමකට සහය දෙන්නේ නෑ, මෙය මගේ අවංක අදහසයි, ” නයිනා මොහොමඩ් රටේ පාපන්දු තත්වය ගැන අවංක සම්මුඛ සාකච්ඡාවකදී පැවසීය.
මම සහීරා සහ අවුරුදු 20 පහල ලමයි ක්‍රීඩා කරන හැටි බලනවා. දිවයින පුරාම යොවුන් දක්ෂ ක්‍රීඩකයින් ඕන තරම් ඉන්නවා, ක්‍රීඩකයින් 40ක් විතර තෝරගත්තොත් වසර දෙක තුනකදී හොද කන්ඩායමක් හදන්න පුළුවන් බව නයිනා පැවසීය.
ඔබේ මනාපය කාට හෝ දීමට පෙර,ඔවුන් බලයේ සිටියෙදී දුන් පොරොන්දු ඉටු කලාද යන්න හොදින් සිතා බලන්න,”ඔහු පැවසීය.
පසුගිය වසර දෙක තුල ජාතික තේරීම් කමිටුවට තේරීම් පරිපාලනය පිළිබඳව අභ්‍යන්තර දැක්මක් නොතිබුන බව නයිනා පවසයි.ඔවුන් පෙන්නුවේ ජේෂ්ඨ ජාතික කන්ඩායමට කරන දේ පමනයි, තෘණ මූල සංවර්ධනයක් නොතිබුණ බව ඔහු පෙන්වා දෙයි.
බැද්දගාන පාපන්දු සංකීර්ණයේ පුහුණුවීම් කරන විට ජාතික සංචිතයට ලබා දුන් ආහාරවල ප්‍රමිතිය පිලිබදව ඔහු විමසා සිටියා. ඔවුන්ට ප්‍රමිතියෙන් තොර සාමාන්‍ය ආහාර ලබා දුන්නේ ,කැලරි ප්‍රමාණය ගැන කිසිදු සැලකිල්ලක් දැක් වුයේ නැහැ. ඔවුන් ආහාර සඳහා කොපමන මුදලක් වැය කරනවාදැයි මට අදහසක් නෑ,නමුත් ආහාර වල කිසිදු පෝෂණ ගුණයක් නොතිබුණ අතර රතු බත් පරිප්පු පොල් සම්බෝල වැනි සාමාන්‍ය ආහාර වේලක් තිබුන බව පැවසීය.
සංචාර සඳහා පුහුණුකරුවන් සහ ක්‍රීඩකයින් තෝරාගැනීම් සම්බන්ධයෙන් ,ඔහු කියා සිටියේ ඵය ඔවුන්ගේ මිතුරන් සතුටු කිරීමට හො සමහර හිටපු ක්‍රීඩකයින්ට උදව් කිරීමට වාසිදායක වූ බවයි.
මම මගේ පාලන කාලය තුල දුටුවේ හොන්ද පුහුණුකරුවන් තිදෙනෙක් හැර අනෙක් අය සුදුසු පුහුණුකරුවන් නොවෙයි . ඵදා පරිපාලනය කලේ , ඔවුන් තම පවුලේ අයට උදව් කිරීමට හෝ අතීතයේ පාපන්දු ක්‍රීඩා කල නිසා ඔවුන් කැමති නොදන්නා පුහුණුකරුවන් පත් කර ඔවුනට උදව් කිරීමයි.ඔවුන් අනුගමනය කරමින් සිටියේ මෙය ,නයිනා පැවසීය. වඩාත්ම කැපී පෙනෙන ක්‍රියාව වුයේ සමහර විට ජාතික තේරීම් කමිටුවේ අනුදැනුමකින් තොරව තේරීම් වලට මැදිහත්වීමයි.
සෑම කන්ඩායම් තේරීමකදී ඔවන් කැමති ලීග වලින් කෙනෙකු ඇතුලත් කරන ලෙස සියුම් ඉල්ලීම් කරනවා.ඵවිට තෝරාගැනීම් ඉතා අපහසු වෙනවා .බොහෝ අවස්ථාවල සියයට 90 ක් අපගේ තේරීම් වන අතර සියයට 10 ක් FSL නිලධාරීන්ගේ තෙරීම වෙනවා. ඵක් අවස්ථාවක බාලිකා කන්ඩායම තෝරාගන්නා විට ක්‍රීඩිකාවන් තිදෙනෙක් අපේ අනුදැනුමකින් තොරව ඇතුලත් කලා . අපි ඒ අවස්ථාවල හුඟාක් අසරණ වුනා. සුදුසුකම් ඇති ක්‍රීඩකයින් තිදෙනෙකුට අවස්ථාව අහිමිවීම පිළිබඳව මගේ හෘද සාක්ෂිය කම්පා වූ බව ,”පැවසීය.
FSL හී පාපන්දු සංවර්ධන සදහා වූ තාක්ෂණික කමිටුවේ ප්‍රධානියා ලෙස චමින්ද ස්ටේන්වෝල් විසින් ඉටුකරන ලද කාර්යභාරය පිළිබඳව ද නයිනා ප්‍රශ්න කලේය, ” ඔහු වසර 10 ක් පාපන්දුවේ සිටියත් කිසිවක් කලේ නෑ.
ඊට අමතරව අවුරුදු 17 න් සහ 19 න් පහල තරගාවලියක් ලංකාවේ පැවැත්වෙන විට ඔහු නේපාලයේ බාලිකා කන්ඩායමේ පුහුණුකරු ලෙස පිටත්ව යනවා.ඔහුගේ රැකියාව පුහුනු කිරීම නෙමෙයි, ඔහු ජාතික පාපන්දු තාක්ෂණික අධ්‍යක්ෂ ඔහු ඵය පැහැර හැරියා.
හිටපු සභාපති රංජිත් රුද්‍රිගු සහ හිටපු උප සභාපති ආචාර්ය මනිල් ප්‍රනාන්දු මීට කලින් විවිධ බැන වැදීම ජස්වර්ට සිදුකලත් නැවත වරක් තනතුරු ඉල්ලමින් ජස්වර් සමග ඵකතූවී ඇත , ශ්‍රී ලංකා යොවුන් අපේක්ෂක දක්ෂිත සුමතිපාලගේ නායකත්වයෙන් යුත් කන්ඩායමක් සැප්තැම්බර 29 රටේ පාපන්දුව වෙනුවෙන් ඔවුන් සමග තරගයට අවතීර්ණ විය.ජස්වර් ගැලරියට සෙල්ලම් කරයි .ඔහු ලීගයන්ට සහය දෙන්නේ ඊලග මැතිවරණයේදී ඡන්දය ලබා ගැනීමේ අරමුණින්.ඔහු කිසි විටෙකවත් පාපන්දු සංවිධානය කිරීමට කිසිවක් කලේ නැ. නයිනා මොහොමඩ් පැවසීය.
නයිනා මොහොමඩ් අවසාන වතාවට ප්‍රකාශ කෙළේ, ජස්වර් නැවත තේරී පත් වූවහොත් ශ්‍රී ලංකා පාපන්දු නැවත ගොඩ නැගීමට නොහැකි තත්ත්වයට පත්වීමට ඉඩ ඇති බවයි.
லீக் பிரதிநிதிகள் கால்பந்தாட்ட மறுமலர்ச்சிக்காக மனச்சாட்சிக்கு கட்டுப்பட்டு தேர்தலில் வாக்களிக்க வேண்டும் – நய்னா மொஹமத் வேண்டுகோள்
இலங்கை கால்பந்தாட்டத்தின் மேம்பாட்டையும் இளம் கால்பந்தாட்ட சந்ததியினரின் எதிர்காலத்தையும் கருத்தில்கொண்டு இலங்கை கால்பந்தாட்ட சம்மேளனத் தேர்தலின்போது லீக் பிரதிநிதிகள் மனசாட்சிக்கு கட்டுப்பட்டு சரியான குழுவை தெரிவு செய்யவேண்டும் என இலங்கையின் முன்னாள் தேசிய கால்பந்தாட்ட முன்கள வீரர் நய்னா மொஹமத் வேண்டுகோள் விடுத்துள்ளார்.
இம்முறை தேர்தலில் இலங்கை கால்பந்தாட்ட சம்மேளனத்தின் முன்னாள் தலைவர்களான ரஞ்சித் ரொட்றிகோ மற்றும் ஜஸ்வர் உமர், முன்னாள் உதவித் தலைவர் டொக்டர் மனில் பெர்னாண்டோ ஆகியோர் ஒரு குழுவாகவும் அநுராதபுரம் கால்பந்தாட்ட லீக் தலைவர் தக்ஷித்த சுமதிபால தரப்பில் மற்றொரு குழுவாகவும் வெள்ளிக்கிழமை 29ஆம் திகதி நடைபெறவுள்ள சம்மேளனத் தேர்தலில் போட்டியிடுகின்றனர்.
இந் நிலையில் தேர்தலில் போட்டியிடுபவர்களில் கால்பந்தாட்ட மேம்பாட்டுக்காக உண்மையாக உழைக்கக்கூடியவர்கள் யார் என்பதை லீக் பிரதிநிதிகள் சீர்தூக்கிப் பார்த்து வாக்களிப்பதே சாலச்சிறந்தது என வீரகேசரி ஒன்லைனுடனான உரையாடலின்போது நய்னா மொஹமத் தெரிவித்தார்.
தங்கள் பிள்ளைகளின் எதிர்காலத்தையும் இலங்கை கால்பந்தாட்டத்தின் மறுமலர்ச்சியையும் நினைவில்கொண்டு லீக் பிரதிநிதிகள் செயற்பட்டால் கால்பந்தாட்டம் நிச்சயமாக ஜெயிக்கும் என ஸாஹிரா, யோர்க் விளையாட்டுக் கழகம், இலங்கை தேசிய அணி ஆகியவற்றின் முன்னாள் நட்சத்திர வீரரான நய்னா மொஹமத் குறிப்பிட்டார்.
கால்பந்தாட்ட நிருவாகத்தில் மாற்றம் தேவை எனவும் அவர் வலியுறுத்தத் தவறவில்லை.
‘இலங்கை கால்பந்தாட்ட சம்மேளனத் தேர்தலில் போட்டியிடுபவர்களில் சிலர் கால்பந்தாட்ட நிருவாகத்தில் பல்லாண்டுகள் சேவையாற்றியுள்ளனர். ஆனால், உலக தரவரிசையில் இலங்கை கால்பந்தாட்டம் பின்தள்ளப்பட்டுள்ளதை சகலரும் அறிவர். அவர்கள் பதவி வகித்த காலங்களில் கால்பந்தாட்டத்திற்கு எதை செய்தார்கள், எதை செய்யாமல் விட்டார்கள் என்பதை லீக் பிரதிநிதிகள் அறியாமல் இருக்க நியாயம் இல்லை. எனவே தேர்தலில் வாக்களிக்கும் லீக் பிரதிநிதிகள்தான் சரியான தீரமானங்களை எடுக்கவேண்டும். கால்பந்தாட்ட நிருவாகத்தில் மாற்றத்தை ஏற்படுத்த இதுவே சரியான சந்தர்ப்பமாகும்.
‘இலங்கையின் எதிர்கால சந்ததியினரின் கால்பந்தாட்டம் தேர்தலில் போட்டியிடும் வேட்பாளர்களின் கைகளில் அல்ல வாக்காளிக்கும் லீக் பிரதிநிதிகளின் கைகளிலேயே தங்கியிருக்கிறது. எனவே வாக்களிப்பவர்கள் மிகச் சரியான முடிவுகளை எடுத்து கால்பந்தாட்டத்தைக் காப்பாற்ற முன்வரவேண்டும். நான் இவ்வாறு கருத்து வெளியிடுவதால் யாருக்கும் பக்கசார்பாக செயற்படுவதாக எண்ணக்கூடாது. கால்பந்தாட்டம் மிக மோசமாக பின்தள்ளப்பட்டுவிட்டதே என்ற ஆதங்கத்தில் பேசுகிறேன். சிலருக்கு உண்மை கசப்பாகத்தான் இருக்கும். ஆனால், உண்மை ஒருபோதும் அழியாது’ என நய்னா மொஹமத் குறிப்பிட்டார்.
‘இலங்கையில் கால்பந்தாட்டம் முழு அளவில் அபவிருத்தி செய்யப்படவில்லை. கீழ்மட்ட அபிவிருத்தி என்ற சொல் கால்பந்தாட்ட அகராதியில் இடம்பெறவில்லை’ என அவர் சுட்டிக்காட்டினார்.
‘சர்வதேச கால்பந்தாட்டப் போட்டிகளுக்கான சுற்றுப் பயணங்களின்போது உயர் நிருவாகிகள் தங்களது நண்பர்களை திருப்திபடுத்துவதற்காக பயிற்றுநர்களையும் வீரர்களையும் தெரிவு செய்வார்கள். கடைசி நேரத்தில் வீரர்கள் பட்டியல் எமக்கு சமர்ப்பிக்கப்படுவதால் தேர்வாளர்கள் என்ற வகையில் நாங்கள் அதற்கு சம்மதிக்க நிர்ப்பந்திக்கப்படுகிறோம். நாங்கள் அதனை அங்கீகரிக்க மறுத்து இலங்கை அணி சர்வதேச போட்டிகளில் பங்குபற்றாமல் விட்டால் பீபா அல்லது ஏஎவ்சி அபராதம் விதிக்கும். அதற்கு அஞ்சியே வீரர்களின் பட்டியல்களை கடைசி நேரத்தில் நாங்கள் அங்கீகரிக்க நிர்ப்பந்திக்கப்படுகிறோம்’ எனவும் அவர் கூறினார்.
எல்லாவற்றையும் விட வீரர்கள் தேர்வின்போது அநாவசிய தலையீடுகளால் தாங்கள் மன உலைச்சல்களுக்கும் நெருக்கடிகளுக்கும் உள்ளாக நேரிட்டதையும் அவர் சுட்டிக்காட்டத் தவறவில்லை.
‘தேசிய அணிகள் வெளிநாடுகளுக்கு சர்வதேச போட்டிகளில் பங்குபற்ற செல்லும்போது கடைசி நேரத்தில்தான் ஜேர்சிகள், பூட்ஸ்கள், டெக் ஷூஸ் என்பன வழங்கப்படுகின்றது. இது குறித்து பயிற்றுநர் அமானுல்லா என்னிடம் முறையிட்டிருந்ததை இங்கு நான் குறிப்பிட்டாக வேண்டும்’ எனவும் அவர் கூறினார்.
உலகக் கிண்ண தகுதிகாண் சுற்றில் விளையாடவுள்ள இலங்கை அணிக்கான வீரர்கள் தெரிவுசெய்யப்பட்டபோது விளையாட்டுத்துறை அமைச்சினால் நியமிக்கப்பட்ட தேர்வுக்குழுவுடன் ஆலோசனை நடத்தப்படாதது ஆச்சரியமூட்டுகிறது என அவர் சுட்டிக்காட்டினார்.
‘இது குறித்து இலங்கை கால்பந்தாட்ட சம்மேளனத்தின் நிருவாகக் குழுத் தலைவர் தேஷப்ரியவிடம் நான் வினவியபோது, அவரால் பதில் அளிக்க முடியாமல் போனது’ என அவர் கூறினார்.
‘எனவே, குறுகிய கால ஆதாயங்களைக் கருத்தில்கொள்ளாமல் பிள்ளைகளின் நீண்டகால எதிர்காலத்தை மனதில் நிறுத்தி அடுத்துவரும் இலங்கை கால்பந்தாட்ட சம்மேளனத் தேர்தலில் (செப்டெம்பர் 29) சரியான குழுவுக்கு வாக்களித்து கால்பந்தாட்டத்தில் மறுமலர்ச்சியை ஏற்படுத்த வேண்டியது லீக் பிரிதிநிதிகளின் கடைமை ஆகும். லீக் பிரதிநிதிகள் உண்மைக்கும் நேர்மைக்கும் கட்டுப்பட்டு சரியான தீர்மானத்தை எடுப்பார்கள் என நம்புகிறேன்’ என்று நய்னா மொஹமத் கூறினார்.