New League on hold as FFSL focus on national team
Despite conducting the President’s Cup and having the honour of being the first national governing body to host a major sporting event in Sri Lanka after the initial outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, the Football Federation of Sri Lanka (FFSL) is in a dire situation on its future assignments.
After successfully staging the 20-team FFSL President’s Cup through August and September, the FFSL was optimistic of holding future events, and drew a plan to hold a semi-professional competition for the first time during November. But with the postponement of Sri Lanka’s three remaining FIFA World Cup qualifiers and the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship, due to the COVID-19 pandemic escalating dramatically, FFSL has now been forced to postpone or forego its own intended semi-professional competition, the Sri Lanka League.
FFSL’s position has been further pushed to a critical situation after the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) sought Sri Lanka’s confirmation for the SAFF Championship, which now has been rescheduled for April 2021. The FFSL is still in doubt whether it will be able to comply with any of the three upcoming assignments, as the government health regulations still does not allow contact sports to resume after a serious outbreak of the second wave of the virus.
The FFSL has earmarked the beginning of 2021 to kick-off the Sri Lanka League but the local football authorities are also keen to resume training of the national pool targeting the two international assignments, according to FFSL president Anura de Silva.
The Sri Lanka League was originally scheduled for November following the President’s Cup which concluded in the first week of September. Attaching priority to the Sri Lanka League, the FFSL made plans to temporarily dissolve the national training held at its National Development Centre in Beddagana.
However, all intended competitions have been put off indefinitely. De Silva also revealed that he was to take part in a special zoom meeting with delegates from other countries to discuss the preparations of the SAFF competition as he also the vice president of the South Asian Football Federation.
“But presently we are eagerly anticipating some space where we can freely breathe before making any further commitments,” de Silva said.
The three remaining qualifiers of the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup have now been rescheduled for March and June next year. Sri Lanka will meet North Korea and Lebanon in away games while South Korea is expected to travel down to Sri Lanka in the three qualifier games.
“These three World Cup qualifier matches were supposed to be played from March this year. Now we are scheduled to play these games after a lapse of 12 months. The past 24 months have not been quite positive for Sri Lankan football in general. But we are optimistic to rise again and stand tall,” de Silva expressed, while being confined home due to the ongoing restrictions imposed by the government to curb the spread of coronavirus.
In addition, Sri Lanka’s head coach Amir Alagic of Bosnia is yet to navigate the national team in any international match since his appointment in February this year. Alagic has been assigned as National Technical Advisor, as the COVID-19 pandemic raised its head just weeks after his appointment as coach and Sri Lanka failed to feature in any international match ever since.
Presently Alagic is tasked to develop a strategy to scout talent and build up a strong national team for 2021 with the intention of reaching the semi-final stage of the SAFF competition.
“Last week we received an invitation from Bangladesh to play a friendly international there. But we couldn’t comply with their request because of the restrictions and regulations in Sri Lanka. Regulations differ from one country to another. Presently we are keen in resuming training of the national squad, with two international assignments coming up,” he revealed.
At the same time FFSL has lost interest in holding the much-awaited Sri Lanka League in the near future. But the semi-professional competition will be the first to come alive, if FFSL gets an opportunity to go back to its usual activities in the domestic calendar. De Silva outlined the importance of getting the national team intact with more days wasted living in fear and sans any activity.
“Unwillingly we have to put the Sri Lanka League on hold at the moment. We have to compare with other activities as well, and look at the possibilities of reviving the game. We are waiting for clearance from health authorities and other sectors. We want to call in the national team back for training and hope for the best to see football and other sports back in action again,” said de Silva.