The world football governing body FIFA plans to provide US$25 million over the next four years to develop football in Sri Lanka, Football Sri Lanka said in a statement on social media.
The national football development plan was discussed on 26 October at a meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan. FIFA President Gianni Infantino, Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Sunil Kumara Gamage and Football Federation of Sri Lanka (FFSL) President Jaswar Umar took part.
The proposed funding for the four-year cycle will go to the national and youth teams, women’s football, and the training of coaches and referees. Football Sri Lanka said the aim is to make football the most popular sport in the country within four years.
Key infrastructure plans include building an international football stadium in Sri Lanka. Development work will also begin next year to set up football grounds in every district. The FFSL separately plans to develop about 40 football grounds across its member leagues by 2031.
FIFA will also provide technical expertise and infrastructure support to the Ministry of Sports, in partnership with the FFSL, to set up a National High-Performance Centre. The facility is intended to improve player development and coaching standards and to give elite athletes in all sports clear training pathways.
“The government appreciates FIFA’s valuable support and reaffirms its full commitment to working closely with FIFA and the FFSL to advance the sport,” Minister Gamage said. Infantino said FIFA “reiterates its firm commitment to advancing Sri Lankan football and working together to build a strong future for the sport”.
Background
FIFA is the global governing body of football and funds development projects run by its member associations around the world. In Sri Lanka the sport is overseen by the FFSL, which works with the Ministry of Sports on national teams, leagues and facilities.
Cricket has long been the most followed sport in Sri Lanka, and other sports, including football, have generally had smaller budgets and fewer purpose-built facilities. Football Sri Lanka has set the goal of changing that within the four-year cycle covered by the plan.
The statement describes the funding as planned and proposed. It does not say when the money would be released or how it would be divided between the projects, and those details are likely to depend on further agreements between FIFA, the FFSL and the Ministry of Sports.
What it means
If the plan goes ahead, young players outside Colombo could gain access to grounds in their own districts, and coaches and referees would receive more formal training. Women’s football is also named as one of the areas to receive funding.
A National High-Performance Centre would give athletes from different sports a shared place to train. For the many Sri Lankans who follow the game abroad, the plan points to a larger domestic structure for the sport over the next four years.
