News
Saud Shakeel’s double ton put Pakistan in the driving seat at the stumps on day 3
Saud Shakeel’s brilliant double century has put Pakistan in a brilliant position against Sri Lanka at the stumps on Day 3 of the first Test in Galle.
Shakeel scored an unbeaten 208* as Pakistan reached 461 in the first innings.
Pakistan started the Day with Agha Salman and Saud Shakeel at the crease after ending Day 2 with a crucial partnership. They extended it further and at a good rate as well. Shakeel registered a fine hundred but they lost Salman in the same over who missed out on his century. However, that did not affect Shakeel one bit as he went on to build up two more big stands, one with Nauman Ali of 52 runs and then a huge one of 94 with Naseem Shah who showed great resistance which put the hosts on the back foot as they conceded a massive lead. Shakeel batted almost throughout the Day and completed his maiden double-hundred as well.
Sri Lanka, on the other hand, will be very disappointed with their bowling effort. Galle is a ground where their spinner has a lot to say but that was not the case on day 3. They were not able to pick up wickets at regular intervals and let the visitors get away. It was the same old story for them as they struggled to get through the lower middle order as the last five wickets for Pakistan cost them 360 runs which is a lot. Their catching was poor as well as they dropped Saud Shakeel twice which has made a big impact in this Test. However, Ramesh Mendis was the pick of the bowlers and took a five-for as they managed to bowl out visitors in the last session.
Sri Lanka in their second innings, reached 14/0 at Stumps, trailing Pakistan by 135 runs. Earlier in the first innings Pakistan bundled out Sri Lanka for 312 before the lunch was taken on Day 2.
The match will continue today for day 4.
සවුද් ශකීල්ගේ ද්විත්ව ශතකයෙන් පාකිස්තානයට තෙවන දිනයේ දි වැඩි ගෞරව.
සවුද් ශකීල්ගේ විශිෂ්ට ද්විත්ව ශතකය හේතුවෙන් ගාල්ලේදී පැවැත්වෙන පළමු ටෙස්ට් තරගයේ 3 වන දිනය වන විට ශ්රී ලංකාවට එරෙහිව පාකිස්තානු පළමු ඉනිම ඉහළ මට්ටමකට ගෙන ඒමට සමත් විය.
ශකීල් නොදැවී ලකුණු 208*ක් ලබා ගත් අතර පාකිස්තාන පළමු ඉනිම ලකුණු 461කට ළඟා විය.
පාකිස්තානය දිනය ආරම්භ කළේ ආගා සල්මාන් සහ සවුද් ශකීල් දෙවැනි දිනය නිමා කිරීමෙන් පසු තීරණාත්මක සබඳතාවයක් සමඟින් ක්රීඩා කරමිනි. ඔවුන් එය තව දුරටත් දිගු කළ අතර හොඳ වේගයකින්ද විය. ශකීල් ශතකයක් වාර්තා කළ නමුත් ඔහුට එම ඕවරයේදීම සල්මාන් අහිමි වූ අතර ඔහුගේ ශතකය අහිමි විය. කෙසේ වෙතත්, ෂකීල්ට එය නොතකා තවත් සබඳතාවයක් ගොඩනැගූ අතර, එකක් නවමන් අලි ලකුණු 52 කින් සහ පසුව ලකුණු 94 න් දැවැන්ත සබඳතාවයක්න සීම් ෂා සමඟින් ගොඩනැගුවේය. ඔවුන්ගේ මනා සහයෝගයෙන් ශකීල් දවස පුරා පාහේ පන්දුවට පහර දුන් අතර ඔහුගේ මංගල ද්විත්ව ශතකයද සම්පූර්ණ කළේය.
අනෙක් අතට ශ්රී ලංකාව ඔවුන්ගේ පන්දු යැවීමේ උත්සාහය ගැන දැඩි කලකිරීමකට පත්වනු ඇත. ගාල්ල යනු ඔවුන්ගේ දඟ පන්දු යවන්නන්ට කීමට බොහෝ දේ ඇති පිටියක් වන නමුත් 3 වන දින එය එසේ නොවීය. ඔවුන්ට නියමිත කාල පරතරයන්හිදී කඩුලු ලබා ගැනීමට නොහැකි විය. පාකිස්තානය වෙනුවෙන් අවසන් කඩුලු 5 දැවී ලකුණු 360ක් වැය වූ බැවින් පහළ මැදපෙළ පසුකර යාමට ඔවුන් දැරූ උත්සාහය ඔවුන්ටද පරණ කතාවම විය. ඔවුන්ගේ උඩපන්දුව දුර්වල වූ අතර ඔවුන් සවුද් ශකීල් දෙවරක්ම දවා ගැනීමට වූ අවස්තා මගහැරී ගිය අතර එය මෙම ටෙස්ට් තරගයට විශාල බලපෑමක් කර ඇත. කෙසේ වෙතත්, රමේෂ් මෙන්ඩිස් පන්දු යවන්නන්ගේ තේරීම වූ අතර අවසන් සැසියේදී කඩුළු දවාලීමට ඔහු සමත් වූ හෙයින් කඩුලු 5ක් ද ලබා ගත්තේය.
ශ්රී ලංකාව සිය දෙවැනි ඉනිමේදී පාකිස්තානයට වඩා ලකුණු 135ක් පසුපසින් සිටිමින් තරගය නතර කරන විට ලකුණු 14/0ක් ලබා සිටියේය. දෙවැනි දිනයට දිවා ආහාරය ගැනීමට පෙර පාකිස්තානය පළමු ඉනිමේදී ශ්රී ලංකාව ලකුණු 312 කට දැවී ගියේය.
තරගය අද 4 වැනි දිනයටත් පැවැත්වේ.
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.
-
Live4 years ago
Live Broadcast of Syria vs Sri Lanka | AFC U23 Asian Championship Qualification
-
Football7 months ago
Sri Lanka Schools National Championship 2025: Super 8 Fixtures and Grouping
-
News7 months ago
2025 Schools Rugby Season Set to Thrill Fans with Knockout and League Action
-
Cricket3 months ago
Nuwan Thushara Shines as RCB Storms into IPL 2025 Final
-
Football8 months ago
FFSL Rebrands Division-1 as ‘League-One’ with a Bold New Vision
-
News3 months ago
Major Shake-Up in Sports Governance: New 2025 Regulations Reform National Sports Bodies in Sri Lanka
-
Football4 months ago
Sri Lanka Announces U19 Football Squad for SAFF Championship 2025
-
Football6 months ago
Sri Lanka Schools National Championship 2024: Super Eight Round Concludes – Semifinalists Confirmed!