Minister releases 3500 Footballs held by Customs

The Minister of Sports and Recreation Gamini Lokuge has heed to an appeal made by Sports INGO “Right to play” representative Prema Pinnawela and get the 3500 footballs released from the Sri Lanka Customs. Earlier the INGO had received the 3500 ‘Addidas’ footballs as a gift from Germany which had a surface value of around 19 million Sri Lankan rupees when the Lankan Customs officials put them under their custody and levied a fine of nearly one million rupees.

The Sports Ministry now has taken a decision to take over the 3500 footballs and distribute in the Eastern Province under the ‘Eastern Development” programme. Meanwhile Prema Pinnawela speaking to The Sunday Times said that they are hoping that the ministry would release at least a thousand balls to them so that they can go ahead with their original programme of distributing them among the schools in the Matara and Hambantota areas in conjunction with the district secretaries and the Ministry of Education.