An extract from Manil’s manifesto for football

Even in the presence of deeply rooted divisions, shared experiences can be an effective nation-building tool and can have a tangible effect on bringing the community together. Sport, specifically Football, could be utilized to create this shared experience amongst the community by forging a common identity where individuals see themselves as a part of a nation as a whole, as opposed to specific racial, religious or other groups. The international community have comprehended this concept and placed importance on sport. With over four billion followers, football is the most popular sport worldwide and is definitely a sport that has strengthened national identities for centuries. Yet, Sri Lanka has not yet given football the importance it deserves and thus, lags behind in the sports arena when compared to the rest of the world. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to develop football in Sri Lanka. The first step in order to do so, is to focus on developing basic football related infrastructure facilities in the country and also by instigating pro-active programs to spike an interest and skill in the game especially amongst the youth and younger students in the country. Grass root level initiatives including fundamental and transformative changes in key areas such as administration, competition planning, youth and women participation, digitization, coach education etc. must be introduced in order to truly develop the sport in the country. Additionally, action must be taken to eradicate corruption and undue politics that have infiltrated sports bodies and authorities in order to ensure true development and progress of the sport in Sri Lanka.

Our community possesses countless talented and skilled youngsters especially in the field of football. Yet, this potential remains squandered and fruitless as Sri Lankan schools and clubs do not have much to offer with regards to football. All children, regardless of gender, race or religion deserve the opportunity to excel in their passion. Thus we as a community, have a responsibility to develop the spectacular sport of football in Sri Lanka in order to provide our future generations with a competitive and appropriate platform to engage in this ever loved sport.

These are the main ideologies and proposals discussed in “Football First, Let’s play” which is the manifesto presented by Manil Fernando. With an undying passion towards the sport and an unending commitment towards developing football in Sri Lanka, Manil will be contesting for the post of president at the election of the Sri Lanka Football Federation (SLFF). To fully comprehend Manil’s vision, mission and plan of action towards evolving football in Sri Lanka, the full manifesto can be read and viewed via video through the ‘Football First; Let’s play’ Facebook page.