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Parliamentary watchdog COPE, under its Chair Prof. Charitha Herath, met the present officials of the Football Federation of Sri Lanka yesterday (4). Photo courtesy COPE[/caption]
The parliamentary Committee on Public Enterprise, better known as COPE, directed yesterday (3) their attention on not the governance of the country’s cricket as usual, but football.
A payment of Rs. 750,000 to the Elections Committee Chairman of the Football Federation of Sri Lanka (FFSL), before conducting the FFSL election this year, and an approval of a payment of Rs. 600,000 each to two members of the same Committee had been key matters of concern for the COPE yesterday.
It had been revealed that the above payments had actually been made on 20 April. The FFSL officials had not stated that they had made those payments when they last met COPE two days later, on 22 April.
“COPE Chairman Prof. Charitha Herath stated that it is suspicious to now state that it (the above payments) was paid on the 20th of April,” a COPE media release stated yesterday.
Umar accepts payments were made
The members of the parliamentary watchdog had in April severely criticised the decision by the incumbent FFSL committee to dole out money as allowances for its own three-member Election Committee. The election of the FFSL had then been scheduled to be held on 30 May 2021 but was postponed due to Covid-19.
Responding to questions from COPE Chairman Prof. Herath, Jaswar Umar, the then General Secretary of the FFSL, had accepted yesterday that the Federation had paid a Rs. 750,000 allowance to the Chairman of the Election Committee while Rs. 600,000 each to two remaining members.
COPE meeting in April
The payments were considered huge compared to what they had paid previously to the same officials. The FFSL had previously paid an allowance of Rs 25,000 to the election committee, it had been reported.
At that April COPE meeting, it was revealed that the proposal to pay such a hefty sum was allegedly put forward by the FFSL’s then President Anura de Silva. The proposal had had the support of the majority of the FFSL executive committee that time.
“Personally I opposed this (the payments to the Election Committee) and there were others who shared the same view that public money should not be paid like that. But the President (de Silva) had the support of the majority and our voices weren’t heard,” Umar had said at the April COPE meeting.
30 June FFSL AGM
Eventually when the FFSL Annual General Meeting (AGM) was held on 30 June, following a couple of postponements due to the pandemic, and Jaswar Umar was elected President over Dr. Manil Fernando, son of Manilal Fernando, for 96 votes against 90.
Anura de Silva represented the Dr. Fernando’s party at that election while another former FFSL Head Ranjith Rodrigo, who believed to be a rival figure of Manilal Fernando’s administration of Sri Lanka’s soccer, was one of the vice-presidential candidates of Umar’s faction.
An investigation recommended
Yesterday, Prof. Herath has recalled that the COPE Committee had previously issued a recommendation to investigate on the matter of above-said payments.
As a result, COPE directed Anuradha Wijekoon, Secretary to the Ministry of Youth and Sports, yesterday to conduct an internal investigation on the matter and submit a report within two weeks.
Attention on Manilal Fernando’s transactions
The COPE had also paid its attention at yesterday’s meeting on the alleged misappropriation of finances by FFSL past President Manilal Fernando, in relation to the following:
(i) Euro 40,400 (approximately Rs.6.2 m) donated by the Italian Football Association for the construction of the Kalutara Football Stadium,
(ii) $ 60,000 (Rs.6.4 m) granted to hold matches by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC),
(iii) A sum of Rs. 10 million provided by a private company for the construction of 20 houses for tsunami victims, and
(iv) $ 200,000 (Rs. 39.8 m) donated by the Asian Football Confederation
COPE Chairman Prof. Herath has also directed the Secretary to the Ministry of Sports to conduct an investigation into the above payments as well, which had already been revealed by the national auditors.
Other ‘misappropriations’
The COPE has also expressed its displeasure over FFSL not recovering Rs. 46,860,672, obtained by the former Finance Manager of the Football Federation by entering “fake names” as match referees, as had been revealed in August 2020.
It had also been revealed at the COPE yesterday that the total amount of advance payments, Rs. 2,252,067 in 2018 and Rs. 1,465,997 in 2019, made by the FFSL to its tournament organisers for conducting tournaments and various conferences had not been settled too.
FFSL Constitution to be amended
Also, the COPE informed the Football Federation of Sri Lanka to amend its existing Constitution in due course whilst advising it to increase the duration of the term of office of its office-bearers from one to four years.
The COPE said it was problematic as to why the FFSL President appoints 18 more members into the FFSL committee when its Constitution provides space only for 10 office-bearers. COPE recommended that those 18 slots, which are still remaining vacant at present, needs to remain so until the FFSL Constitution is amended.
Minister Rohitha Abeygunawardena, State Minister Indika Anuruddha, Members of Parliament Rauf Hakeem, Champika Ranawaka, Jagath Pushpakumara, Eran Wickramaratne, Premnath C. Dolawatte, B.Y.G. Ratnasekera, S.M. Rasamanickam, Director General of the Department of Sports Development Amal Edirisooriya, and present FFSL President Jaswar Umar, along with other officials of the FFSL, were present at the COPE meeting yesterday.
Parliamentary watchdog COPE, under its Chair Prof. Charitha Herath, met the present officials of the Football Federation of Sri Lanka yesterday (4). Photo courtesy COPE[/caption]
The parliamentary Committee on Public Enterprise, better known as COPE, directed yesterday (3) their attention on not the governance of the country’s cricket as usual, but football.
A payment of Rs. 750,000 to the Elections Committee Chairman of the Football Federation of Sri Lanka (FFSL), before conducting the FFSL election this year, and an approval of a payment of Rs. 600,000 each to two members of the same Committee had been key matters of concern for the COPE yesterday.
It had been revealed that the above payments had actually been made on 20 April. The FFSL officials had not stated that they had made those payments when they last met COPE two days later, on 22 April.
“COPE Chairman Prof. Charitha Herath stated that it is suspicious to now state that it (the above payments) was paid on the 20th of April,” a COPE media release stated yesterday.
Umar accepts payments were made
The members of the parliamentary watchdog had in April severely criticised the decision by the incumbent FFSL committee to dole out money as allowances for its own three-member Election Committee. The election of the FFSL had then been scheduled to be held on 30 May 2021 but was postponed due to Covid-19.
Responding to questions from COPE Chairman Prof. Herath, Jaswar Umar, the then General Secretary of the FFSL, had accepted yesterday that the Federation had paid a Rs. 750,000 allowance to the Chairman of the Election Committee while Rs. 600,000 each to two remaining members.
COPE meeting in April
The payments were considered huge compared to what they had paid previously to the same officials. The FFSL had previously paid an allowance of Rs 25,000 to the election committee, it had been reported.
At that April COPE meeting, it was revealed that the proposal to pay such a hefty sum was allegedly put forward by the FFSL’s then President Anura de Silva. The proposal had had the support of the majority of the FFSL executive committee that time.
“Personally I opposed this (the payments to the Election Committee) and there were others who shared the same view that public money should not be paid like that. But the President (de Silva) had the support of the majority and our voices weren’t heard,” Umar had said at the April COPE meeting.
30 June FFSL AGM
Eventually when the FFSL Annual General Meeting (AGM) was held on 30 June, following a couple of postponements due to the pandemic, and Jaswar Umar was elected President over Dr. Manil Fernando, son of Manilal Fernando, for 96 votes against 90.
Anura de Silva represented the Dr. Fernando’s party at that election while another former FFSL Head Ranjith Rodrigo, who believed to be a rival figure of Manilal Fernando’s administration of Sri Lanka’s soccer, was one of the vice-presidential candidates of Umar’s faction.
An investigation recommended
Yesterday, Prof. Herath has recalled that the COPE Committee had previously issued a recommendation to investigate on the matter of above-said payments.
As a result, COPE directed Anuradha Wijekoon, Secretary to the Ministry of Youth and Sports, yesterday to conduct an internal investigation on the matter and submit a report within two weeks.
Attention on Manilal Fernando’s transactions
The COPE had also paid its attention at yesterday’s meeting on the alleged misappropriation of finances by FFSL past President Manilal Fernando, in relation to the following:
(i) Euro 40,400 (approximately Rs.6.2 m) donated by the Italian Football Association for the construction of the Kalutara Football Stadium,
(ii) $ 60,000 (Rs.6.4 m) granted to hold matches by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC),
(iii) A sum of Rs. 10 million provided by a private company for the construction of 20 houses for tsunami victims, and
(iv) $ 200,000 (Rs. 39.8 m) donated by the Asian Football Confederation
COPE Chairman Prof. Herath has also directed the Secretary to the Ministry of Sports to conduct an investigation into the above payments as well, which had already been revealed by the national auditors.
Other ‘misappropriations’
The COPE has also expressed its displeasure over FFSL not recovering Rs. 46,860,672, obtained by the former Finance Manager of the Football Federation by entering “fake names” as match referees, as had been revealed in August 2020.
It had also been revealed at the COPE yesterday that the total amount of advance payments, Rs. 2,252,067 in 2018 and Rs. 1,465,997 in 2019, made by the FFSL to its tournament organisers for conducting tournaments and various conferences had not been settled too.
FFSL Constitution to be amended
Also, the COPE informed the Football Federation of Sri Lanka to amend its existing Constitution in due course whilst advising it to increase the duration of the term of office of its office-bearers from one to four years.
The COPE said it was problematic as to why the FFSL President appoints 18 more members into the FFSL committee when its Constitution provides space only for 10 office-bearers. COPE recommended that those 18 slots, which are still remaining vacant at present, needs to remain so until the FFSL Constitution is amended.
Minister Rohitha Abeygunawardena, State Minister Indika Anuruddha, Members of Parliament Rauf Hakeem, Champika Ranawaka, Jagath Pushpakumara, Eran Wickramaratne, Premnath C. Dolawatte, B.Y.G. Ratnasekera, S.M. Rasamanickam, Director General of the Department of Sports Development Amal Edirisooriya, and present FFSL President Jaswar Umar, along with other officials of the FFSL, were present at the COPE meeting yesterday.