Football betrayal in Sri Lanka!

I was amazed (or should I have been) by the feature in the Sunday Times of the 13 August by Trevor Reckerman and report by Naushad Amit on 27th August, tracing the aftermath of the election and the perpetrated fraud that has taken place in the Football House.

Strangely, no one in authority appears to be overly concerned, as on the face of it, sounds as only Rs.28m. Anyway, these are nothing but peanuts compared to our national scams which are mind-boggling! But let’s get back to Football! Having more than a casual knowledge of the sport and its manifestation at the Football House, I believe this is another betrayal that was slowly and silently happening for a period of time.

Following the FFSL elections what is seen is fairly the same leeches shuffled and packed in the same old house and according to the insiders, it took one vigilant official in the present ExCo to spot the discrepancies that has now resulted in Rs.28m haul; some claim it could be much higher! So, the question that begs explanation is what the President and his ExCo of yesteryear did to prevent such a colossal theft?

Most significant is that the administration during which time this fraud was surreptitiously plotted and executed had in its ranks the Past President, the Present President, DIG's, Brigadiers, Management Consultants, Professionals and some reputed personalities to name a few. The view of the football fraternity is that these gentlemen were sitting pretty, deaf, dumb and blind and not fulfilling the responsibilities expected of them.

It is reported that the previous FFSL Treasurer in fact made a stunning declaration at the last AGM, that he had no control whatsoever over the FFSL finances. That was indeed the status that a lame duck President maintained until the defining moment in January 2017 when he and his mentor parted company!

What happens now? As if to add injury to insult, Mohamed Inham who served in the last Finance Committee now sits smugly in the high post of Chairman of the Finance Committee. It is common knowledge in football circles that he gleefully claims to all & sundry, that it was he who discovered the