Dr. Manil Fernando, who will contest for the post of president at the upcoming election of the Football Federation of Sri Lanka (FFSL) vowed to revive the game in the country under the theme ‘Football First, Let’s play.’
Dr. Manil believes that even in the presence of deeply rooted divisions, shared experiences can be an effective nation-building tool and can have a tangible effect on bringing the community together.
“Football could be made use of to create this shared experience amongst the community by forging a common identity, where individuals see themselves as a part of a nation as a whole, as opposed to specific racial, religious or other groups.”
“Football is a sport that has strengthened national identities for centuries. Sri Lanka has not given football the importance it deserves and thus, it lags in the sports arena when compared to the rest of the world.”
“Therefore, it is of utmost importance to develop football in Sri Lanka. The first step, to do so, is to focus on developing basic football-related infrastructure facilities in the country and also by instigating pro-active programmes to spike interest in the game.”
“Grassroot level initiatives, including fundamental and transformative changes in key areas such as administration, competition planning, youth and women participation, digitisation, coach and referee education must be introduced in order to truly develop the sport in our country.”
“Additionally, action must be taken to eradicate corruption and undue political interference that have infiltrated sports bodies and authorities in order to ensure true development and progress of the sport in Sri Lanka.”
“Our community possesses countless talented and skilled youngsters. Yet, this potential remains squandered and fruitless as Sri Lankan schools and clubs do not have much to offer with regards to football.”
“All children, regardless of gender, race, or religion deserve the opportunity to excel in their passion.”
“Thus, we have a responsibility to develop football in Sri Lanka in order to provide our future generations with a competitive and appropriate platform to engage in this sport,” he added.
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