8 teams for SAAF ‘23 while Sri Lanka rot at home

 

The list of the final teams participating in the South Asian Football Championship, which will begin on 21 June in Bangalore, India, has been released, and Sri Lanka, which is temporarily under an international ban, has not been included.

The Sri Lankan team, which emerged as a breakthrough team after the South Asian Football Championship held in 2019, became the runners-up in the Four-Nation football tournament beating both Maldives and Bangladesh. 

But due to irregularities in the administration and other issues, on 21 January, the Sri Lanka Football Federation was banned by the International Football Federation. It is surprising that no updated information has been reported from the International Football Federation or the football authorities of this country, even though it has been almost four months since the ban.

Except for the chairman of the Football Officials Board who was elected last time, all the officials have resigned and the chairman is currently under arrest due to a personal incident. Therefore, it seems that the National Football Federation has become completely inactive by now.

Meanwhile, many Sri Lankans of foreign origin who have added a new awakening to the national level have now expressed their interest to compete under the Sri Lankan flag. According to statistical reports, if those foreign players compete for the Sri Lankan football team, it has the potential to become one of the strongest teams in this region.

But so far, apart from a few players of the national team, not a single official related to the game has come forward to get rid of the football ban.

However, for the 14th edition of the South Asian Championship, Lebanon and Kuwait will compete instead of Sri Lanka. Accordingly, eight teams are competing for this year's championship and their match schedules and group draws have been arranged to be held in New Delhi. Accordingly, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Lebanon, Maldives, Pakistan and Kuwait are scheduled to compete in this year's tournament.

Chathura Ranasinghe 

(The Morning )