Introspection and cleansing of SL Football’s Augean stables
The talk and the questions raised by the past Footballers and local fans are many, however, I will highlight a few. When did our National Football team last play an international match on home soil? Can the Football Federation of Sri Lanka (FFSL) name our present National team? Why has the quality and the glamour of our standard of Football deteriorated? What happened to the short term and long term plan to develop our Football boasted by the Football maestro in 2013? On the other hand, what steps did the authorities take in this regard? The Football-loving public bemoans the sad plight of this once-popular sport in this island, which has fallen from the frying pan into the fire. Drastic and immediate remedies are essential to resurrect and revive Sri Lanka Football from the abyss it has fallen into in the last three years or so.
My first proposal is the immediate dismissal of most of the administrators of the FFSL, while retaining a few who are technically and administratively competent. The rest should be replaced with men of competence and expertise and who have at heart the promotion and development of the game throughout the country. There is an urgent need to have technical expertise at every level in the thinking and planning stages. No auditors, clearing agents, retired police officers or business tycoons who have not played Football at a high level could guide or take our country’s Football in the right direction. A serious study of school Football should be implemented immediately, like in Cricket and Rugby. The FFSL should also seek the assistance of the Ministry of Education and persuade the latter to make Football a compulsory sport in every school in the country.
Senior coaches, referees and a few international players should be invited to form an Advisory Body to propose a broadbased national technical development plan to raise the standard of the game. Some of the present issues that caught my attention demands action to put the Football House in order for the sake of the country and the soccer loving people. The ExCo, Finance, Marketing, Technical and Youth Football Committees hardly meet. Either the President or the Secretary General has a say pertaining to the technical aspect of the game which is bulldozed by the ExCo chairman who learned his lessons from his predecessor. It is regrettable that dissidence shown by him is attributed to influence or machinations of the former Football boss or, worse than him. Like his predecessor, the incessant travels of the three giants of the FFSL needs to be documented. This is the bane of all our past leaders.
They are more concerned with the International stage than the affairs and performance within the country. The state of Footbal in Sri Lanka is not their concern. We saw enough of that in the past too, and what we see today is only a replay of that classic syndrome. At the end, the incumbent FFSL President and his immediate boss will very soon fade into the dismal history of our recent past. They may happily pack their bags and go home, leaving the common man’s sport in the abyss from where there is no return. During the 1950s to the 1970s, countries such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore to name a few, invited our National team to various tournaments, in addition to Asian and Pre–Olympic competitions.
What is the position now? We have stagnated at international level yet, what have the authorities responsible for the country’s Football done? Have they identified where and why we have failed. The FFSL, for the last three years, has been one and the same of living on failure after failure. However, the passports of a few officials are full of visa endorsements for foreign tours while the Football House has only bare cupboards to show. When the game started to grow in Sri Lanka between 1950 and 1960, the administrators were not ready with the wherewithal to absorb it. Currently, it has become worse now, with pedestrian administrators. When and how are you going to produce Peter Ranasinghes, Mahinda Aluvihares, Hassimdeens, Sirisenas, Edward Wickramasooriyas, Zainulabdeens to name a few of our past Football greats.
We do not have competent men within the FFSL, to manage the sport, like in Cricket and Rugby. For instance, the creation of an ExCo in place of the broadly representative council, was a cleverly orchestrated change. The council has been relegated to a mere rubber stamp. It is totally ineffective like a man with a broken spine. How can you take a step in the right direction when the ExCo members swallow all what is said by the big boss, like babies lapping up milk. There are a few who have been comforted with foreign tours and more. Some spend their time after retirement, blindly following and singing the praises of those who offer various positions. We need administrators who talk straight, think straight and work tirelessly to genuinely promote the sport. Not offer heavily diluted stuff to please those who offer the goodies.
During the last three years or so, the administrators within the FFSL are nothing but square pegs in round holes from top to bottom. Most of them have not kicked a Football properly. Another big mistake the FFSL makes is issuing Football coaching licences to those who have not played Football at a high level. Further pandering to those individuals who have no proper knowledge and experience in coaching, to introduce mushroom Football academies in the country, with the aim of making a quick buck from parents who are taken for a ride, saying their kids will be trained to reach great heights in Football. It is indeed ridiculous to note that the FFSL should be the first to have an academy, rather than rely on others to help their cause.
Controlling Bodies in India, Bangladesh, Maldives and Nepal have already introduced them with funding received from the AFC and FIFA. This clearly shows the care and concern the FFSL administrators have for our talented youth Footballers. The individuals running Football academies and those who intend doing so, must clearly understand that a Football academy is a special centre which will have to be first set up by the FFSL. Talented young players between the ages of 12 to 18 years are handpicked by qualified coaches conducting trials to identify their skills, before they are absorbed into the academy. The academy should have highly qualified specialist coaches, a good pitch and the requisite facilities They should have support from other professional staff including physiotherapists, doctors and teachers.
Some of the student will become professional footballers. Some of them will represent their country one day. So the Football academy is really about professional excellence in everything they do. It must be managed by a Director who will be in charge overall, with good technical knowledge, experience in Football, with managerial skills (he may be a former National player himself), and help from coaches with advance coaching knowledge and experience. What is really necessary to uplift our Football are two simple measures. First, they have to ensure that persons with technical experience and expertise guide our Football at all levels. Secondly, they have to introduce a process of change of officials, not on the basis of a limited period in office. Yet, it strictly has to be result oriented.
Unless and until the Sport Ministry is geared to implement these two proviso’s, our Football internationally, will remain where it is. Thinking, planning and directing sport is essentially a technical subject and make no mistake on that count. While there are plenty of technical expertise available and ready to help our Footbal, the Ministry itself must have a fair intake of that quality. To say that technical men must man the field and administer the office, is both ridiculous and redundant. It is only a cover and camouflage for the square pegs who have dug holes all over National sports structure. If the Sports Ministry refuses to accept this fact or, show a nelsonian eye, well then, let us say goodbye to our hopes and aspirations for international reckoning. At best, we will be good at regional or sub-regional level.