The election committee of the Football Federation of Sri Lanka (FFSL) has rejected the nomination of Dakshitha Sumathipala as well as 04 other nominations of his camp.
Sumathipala, the President of the Anuradhapura District Football Association, had submitted his nomination to contest for the Presidency of the FFSL.
Only 08 nominations from Sumathipala’s camp have been accepted and critics say that this would raise the odds in the favour of his contender – Jaswar Umar.
The FFSL election committee has given rejected candidates time to submit their appeals until Sep. 03.
The candidates whose nominations were rejected are : Dakshitha Sumathipala who intended to contest for the Presidency, T.L. Uduwara (Wattala League) who intended to contest for the Vice Presidency, and Nalaka Dissanayake (Sri Lanka Schools), Nihal Perera (Wattala League) and Heshini Ariyaratne (Deniyaya League) who intended to contest for positions of Ex-Co members.
If Mr. Sumathipala’s appeals are rejected, former chairman Mr. Umar will be become the FFSL President uncontested while the remaining 04 main positions will also be filled uncontested.
However, the fact that all 13 nominations of the Umar camp were accepted, is also being talked about in Football circles.
This is mainly because the Sports Ministry had declared him as ineligible to contest at the last FFSL election. Therefore, the acceptance of a nomination by an individual once declared as ‘ineligible’, by the sports ministry itself, has raised eyebrows.
In addition, a Special Investigation Unit of the Sports Ministry had also recommended Mr. Umar was not deemed fit to hold a post in any sports federation. It was also recommended to take disciplinary action against him on a ministry level.
However, it is also singular that this year’s election committee consists of officials who were present last time as well.
The committed is chaired by retired judge U.L Abdul Majid and includes retired Judge Bandula K. Athapattu and Major General (Retd.) Upali Gunasekara as other members.
The recommendations made over the irregularities of Mr. Umar, by the Ministry’s Special Investigation Unit to prevent offences relating to sports, are as follows :
Below is the list of accepted and rejected nominations for this year’s FFSL election.
A special operation has been launched by the Bureau for the Investigation of Abuse of Children and Women and the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA).
The operation was conducted across multiple police divisions including Colombo North, Colombo South, Colombo Central, Nugegoda, Gampaha, Panadura, Kelaniya, Negombo, Mount Lavinia, Kalutara, Tangalle, Anuradhapura, Kandy, Kurunegala, Chilaw, Ratnapura, Galle, and Matara.
According to the police media division, the operation has rescued 21 minors found begging or selling goods in unsafe conditions.
They have been placed under protective care, the statement adds.
The Department of Agrarian Development has issued a notice to landowners with uncultivated land, requesting them to submit reasons for non-cultivation within the next 02 weeks.
Commissioner General – Rohana Rajapaksha highlighted that over 120,000 acres of land, which should have been cultivated, have been abandoned.
All services provided by the President’s Fund to the public will be available through an online system, from today (June 21).
The acceptance of applications for medical assistance under the President’s Fund through Divisional Secretariats island wide commenced on February 07.
Following the successful implementation of that initiative, preparations have now been completed to expand the digital system to include all other services offered by the Fund.
Accordingly, the public will be able to apply online via any Divisional Secretariat across the country for a wide range of services provided under the President’s Fund. These include assistance for poverty alleviation, provision of educational scholarships, recognition of students demonstrating academic excellence, support for individuals with special needs, relief assistance for children affected by wild elephant conflict, recognition of individuals for their national service or contributions to the country, Emergency and disaster relief.
As a result, citizens across Sri Lanka, especially those outside Colombo can conveniently access the services of the President’s Fund without having to travel long distances.