News
UWW-KIMBA partnership helps Ahinsa win Sri Lanka’s first CWG medal.
The Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, which concluded on August 8, saw some exciting wrestling action, with athletes from 10 countries sharing the stage. The opportunity arose to showcase the talents of new contestants and history was rewritten.
Nethmi Ahinsa (SRI) won the bronze medal in the women’s 57 kg category, while Anshu MALIK (IND) won the silver medal. Odunayo ADEKUOROYE (NGR) won the gold medal.
However, the medal will hold special significance for Ahinsa and her country. This was Sri Lanka’s first Commonwealth Games medal in wrestling. And the 18-year-old was the youngest to win a wrestling medal.
The Medal of Ahinsa is also a testament to the success of UWW’s development programs.
Ahimsa has joined the Crysbro Next Champ program run by the Sri Lanka National Olympic Committee. As part of the program, the Northwestern schoolgirl was sent to Hungary, where she was exposed to training and competing with several high-level athletes.
The Sri Lanka National Olympic Committee, which expressed its gratitude to UWW and KIMBA to funding and supporting her three-month training program at its partner centre in Hungary, Kozma István Hungarian Wrestling Academy (KIMBA), through collaboration.
The positive impact of collaboration is visible for all to see and Ahinsa’s medal at the Commonwealth Games underlines the importance UWW places on such development programmes.
UWW-KIMBA හවුල්කාරිත්වය අහිංසාට ශ්රී ලංකාවේ පළමු CWG පදක්කම දිනා ගැනීමට උපකාර කරයි
අගෝස්තු 8 වැනිදා අවසන් වූ බර්මින්හැම් හි පැවති පොදුරාජ්ය මණ්ඩලීය ක්රීඩා උළෙල, රටවල් 10ක ක්රීඩක ක්රීඩිකාවන් වේදිකාවට ගොඩවීමත් සමඟ, ඉතා උද්වේගකර මල්ලවපොර ක්රීඩාවක් දක්නට ලැබුණි. නව තරගකරුවන්ගේ දක්ෂතා ඉදිරිපත් කිරීමට අවස්ථාව උදා වූ අතර ඉතිහාසය නැවත ලිවීය.
නෙත්මි අහින්සා (SRI) කාන්තා කිලෝග්රෑම් 57 කාණ්ඩයේ ලෝකඩ පදක්කම දිනාගත් අතර, රිදී පදක්කම හිමි වූයෙර් Anshu MALIK (IND) හටය. Odunayo ADEKUOROYE (NGR) විසින් රන් පදක්කම දිනා ගන්නා ලදී.
කෙසේ වෙතත්, අහිංසාට සහ ඇගේ රටට එම පදක්කම විශේෂ වැදගත්කමක් වනු ඇත. පොදුරාජ්ය මණ්ඩලීය ක්රීඩා උළෙලේ මල්ලවපොර ක්රීඩාවෙන් ශ්රී ලංකාව ලැබූ පළමු පදක්කම මෙය වීය. තවද 18 හැවිරිදි අහිංසා පදක්කමක් දිනූ ලාබාලතමයා විය.
UWW හි සංවර්ධන වැඩසටහන්වල සාර්ථකත්වය අහිංසාගේ පදක්කම ද සාක්ෂියකි.
අහිංසා ශ්රී ලංකා ජාතික ඔලිම්පික් කමිටුව විසින් ක්රියාත්මක කරන Crysbro Next Champ වැඩසටහන හා සම්බන්ධ වී ඇත. වැඩසටහනේ එක් අංගයක් ලෙස, වයඹ පළාතේ පාසල් සිසුවියක් වූ ඇය හංගේරියාවට යවන ලද අතර, එහිදී ඇය ඉහළ මට්ටමේ ක්රීඩක ක්රීඩිකාවන් කිහිප දෙනෙකු සමඟ පුහුණුවීම්වලට සහ තරඟ කිරීමට නිරාවරණය විමට හැකියාව ලැබී ඇත.
UWW සහ KIMBA වෙත සිය කෘතඥතාව පළ කළ ශ්රී ලංකා ජාතික ඔලිම්පික් කමිටුව, තවදුරටත් මෙම සහයෝගීතාවය මගින් හංගේරියාවේ එහි හවුල්කාර මධ්යස්ථානය වන Kozma István Hungarian Wrestling Academy (KIMBA) හි ඇයගේ මාස තුනක පුහුණු වැඩසටහන සඳහා අරමුදල් සහ සහය ලබා දෙන ලදී.
සහයෝගීතාවයේ ධනාත්මක බලපෑම සැමට දැකගත හැකි වන අතර පොදුරාජ්ය මණ්ඩලීය ක්රීඩා උළෙලේ අහිංසාගේ පදක්කම UWW එවැනි සංවර්ධන වැඩසටහන් මගින් ලබා දෙන වැදගත්කම අවධාරණය කරයි.
UWW-KIMBA கூட்டாண்மை இலங்கையின் முதல் CWG பதக்கத்தை அஹிம்சா பெற உதவியது.
பர்மிங்காமில் ஆகஸ்ட் 8 ஆம் தேதி முடிவடைந்த காமன்வெல்த் விளையாட்டுப் போட்டிகள், 10 நாடுகளைச் சேர்ந்த மல்யுத்த வீரர்களுடன், சில அற்புதமான மல்யுத்த நடவடிக்கைகளைக் கண்டன. புதிய போட்டியாளர்களின் திறமைகளை வெளிப்படுத்தும் வாய்ப்பு உருவாகி வரலாறு மாற்றி எழுதப்பட்டது.
பெண்களுக்கான 57 கிலோ பிரிவில் நெத்மி அஹின்சா (SRI) வெண்கலப் பதக்கத்தையும், அன்ஷு மாலிக் (IND) வெள்ளிப் பதக்கத்தையும் வென்றனர். ஒடுனாயோ அடேகுரோயே (என்ஜிஆர்) தங்கப் பதக்கத்தை வென்றார்.
இருப்பினும், இந்த பதக்கம் அஹிம்சா மற்றும் அவரது நாட்டிற்கு சிறப்பு முக்கியத்துவம் வாய்ந்ததாக இருக்கும். மல்யுத்தத்தில் இலங்கை பெற்ற முதல் பொதுநலவாய விளையாட்டுப் பதக்கம் இதுவாகும். மேலும் 18 வயது இளைஞன் அகிம்சைப் பதக்கம் வென்ற இளையவர்.
UWW இன் வளர்ச்சித் திட்டங்களின் வெற்றிக்கு அஹிம்சா பதக்கம் ஒரு சான்றாகும்.
இலங்கை தேசிய ஒலிம்பிக் குழுவினால் நடத்தப்படும் Crysbro Next Champ திட்டத்தில் அஹிம்சா இணைந்துள்ளார். நிகழ்ச்சியின் ஒரு பகுதியாக, வடமேற்குப் பள்ளி மாணவி ஹங்கேரிக்கு அனுப்பப்பட்டார், அங்கு அவர் பல உயர்மட்ட விளையாட்டு வீரர்களுடன் பயிற்சி மற்றும் போட்டியை வெளிப்படுத்தினார்.
UWW மற்றும் KIMBA க்கு தனது நன்றியைத் தெரிவித்த இலங்கை தேசிய ஒலிம்பிக் குழு, இந்த ஒத்துழைப்பின் மூலம் ஹங்கேரியில் உள்ள அதன் கூட்டாளர் மையமான Kozma István Hungarian Wrestling Academy (KIMBA) இல் அவரது மூன்று மாத பயிற்சித் திட்டத்திற்கு மேலும் நிதியுதவி அளித்து ஆதரவளித்தது.
ஒத்துழைப்பின் நேர்மறையான தாக்கம் அனைவருக்கும் தெரியும் மற்றும் காமன்வெல்த் விளையாட்டுகளில் அஹிம்சாவின் பதக்கம், UWW இத்தகைய மேம்பாட்டுத் திட்டங்களுக்கு அளிக்கும் முக்கியத்துவத்தை அடிக்கோடிட்டுக் காட்டுகிறது.
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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