News
FFSL election : Sumathipala’s nomination rejected as Jaswar also in fix!
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.
News
Cultural celebration held to mark Chinese New Year (Pics / Video)
To mark the upcoming Chinese New Year festival, the Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka and the Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism jointly hosted a cultural celebration last night (Jan. 19) at the Cinnamon Life Hotel.
Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya, who attended the event as Chief Guest, delivered a congratulatory message from President Anura Kumara Dissanayake for the Chinese New Year.
The celebration was also attended by former President – Maithripala Sirisena, former Prime Minister – Dinesh Gunawardena, Industry Minister – Sunil Handunnetti, Deputy Minister Finance and Planning – Dr. Harshana Sooriyapperuma and other political dignitaries, Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka – Qi Zhenhong, Prime Minister’s Secretary – Pradeep Saputhanthri as well as a large gathering of Sri Lankans and Chinese nationals.
Impressive Kungfu performances, colourful dances and musical performances graced the evening as well as traditional Chinese art forms such as paper cutting, calligraphy and sugar crafting.
A special delegation comprising 34 members from the Henan Art Troupe and the Sichuan Chef Team has also arrived in Sri Lanka as part of the New Year celebrations. In addition, the festivities will feature the “Chinese Food Festival” and the “Port City Chinese Cultural Night,” scheduled to take place from January 20 to 23.
According to the Chinese lunar calendar, 2025 is the year of the wood snake. The Snake is known for qualities such as grace, intelligence, and intuition.
(Pics – Shanika Jayasekara / Video – Kelum Shivantha)
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Cultural celebration held to mark Chinese New Year (Pics / Video)
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