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.
Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu has been fined 10 percent of her match fee for breaching Level 1 of the ICC Code of Conduct.
The incident took place during the final group stage game of the recently concluded tri-series in Sri Lanka, with the hosts facing South Africa in Colombo. The Proteas emerged victorious in a high-scoring fixture.
Athapaththu was found to have breached Article 2.2 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to “abuse of cricket equipment or clothing, ground equipment or fixtures and fittings during an International Match.”
In addition to this, one demerit point has been added to Athapaththu’s disciplinary record, for whom it was the first offence in a 24-month period.
The said incident occurred in the 32nd over of South Africa’s innings, when after being hit for a four by Annerie Dercksen, Athapaththu took off her sunglasses and smashed them to the ground, breaking them into several pieces.
The charges were levelled by on-field umpires Anna Harris and Dedunu de Silva, third umpire Lyndon Hannibal and fourth umpire Nimali Perera.
There was no need of a hearing as Athapaththu admitted the offence and accepted the sanctions proposed by Michelle Pereira of the Emirates ICC International Panel of Match Referees.
Level 1 breaches carry a minimum penalty of an official reprimand, a maximum penalty of 50 per cent of a player’s match fee, and one or two demerit points.
The tri-series was eventually won by India, who defeated Sri Lanka, the tournament hosts in the final by 97 runs.
A four-hour strike by employees at the Jaya Container Terminal (JCT) and the East Container Terminal of the Colombo Port last night has resulted in an estimated loss of at least Rs. 300 million, a senior official of the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) said.
He said the strike, which began at 8:00 p.m. yesterday and continued till midnight, was triggered by a controversial decision by the Ports Authority to cut incentive allowances paid to essential employees who worked on April 12 and 13, dates that coincided with the Vesak Poya holidays.
The workers resumed duties at around 12:30 a.m. today after the SLPA administration reissued a letter assuring that overtime allowances will be paid according to the previous system.
At the time the strike began, six cargo ships were anchored at the affected terminals, and all operations were brought to a complete halt, the official said.
The dispute stems from a decision by a senior SLPA official to limit the overtime allowances for work done on the Poya day (April 12) to Rs. 10,000 and the following day (April 13) to Rs. 5,000. This move broke with long-standing practices regarding holiday compensation for essential workers.
The Ports Authority official further alleged that the decisions were taken unilaterally by a senior administrator who has previously been criticised for making media statements regarding workers’ salaries.
The temporary halt in port operations has sparked renewed concerns over the administration’s handling of labour
relations and the broader financial impact of such disruptions on the national economy.
The Public Health Inspectors (PHI)’s Union states that a total of 8,742 Dansals have been registered islandwide, in line with Vesak celebrations this year.
According to the PHI’s Union chairman – Upul Rohana, the highest number of ‘Dansal’ is registered in the Western Province, particularly in the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) area.
The union has also urged organiser to reduce the use of polythene and plastic during food distribution efforts.