• Vows to regain the SAFF title after 31 years 
• Says detractors cannot scuttle his journey 

The Football Federation of Sri Lanka (FFSL) Indefatigable President Jaswar Umar says he is single-mindedly focused on steering the national team to its first Men’s SAFF Championship title in 31 years, despite whatever brickbats hurled at him by his critics.

Sri Lanka won its first and only Men’s SAFF Championship title then named the SAFF Gold Cup in 1995, when former Renown SC defender Roshan Pereira led the host nation to a famous 1-0 victory over India in the final at Sugathadasa Stadium in Colombo.

Umar, speaking to The Daily Morning Sports, stated that he is determined to personally back his players to achieve the elusive triumph for the island-nation at the forthcoming Championship.

The 15th edition of the SAFF Championship is scheduled to be held from 21 September to 6 October at the National Stadium in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

The FFSL head made these comments in response to allegations directed at him by ex-FIFA Accredited Referee, FIFA/AFC Match Commissioner and FFSL official Sunil Senaweera, during a media briefing last week.

Senaweera, a veteran administrator launched a fierce tirade at the incumbent President of the FFSL, over what he perceived to be mass-scale misdeeds taking place under the FFSL President’s watch, at an institution which the former had also served in the past.

He stated that despite having brought the issues at hand to the notice of the Sports Minister no tangible action had still been taken against the head of the FFSL, and urged the Government to seriously consider cleaning up the sport’s local ruling body.

Umar, however, pointed to the job done by the current administration within a period of two-and-a-half-years, where the national team had recorded nine wins and a draw on the international circuit, becoming one of world football’s most improved teams.

According to him, the national team which had once languished below 200 in FIFA World Rankings, had now jumped to 191 after 11 long years, and argued whether such improvements had ever been shown by the Men’s senior team in the past decade.

Asked of the allegations directed at him by the ex-FIFA Accredited Referee, the Football House chief challenged his detractor to write to FIFA and bring forth what he termed a ‘so-called change of administration here’ if possible.

He was of the view that those who are motivated by personal jealousy and driven by ulterior motives will always strive to destabilise institutions, and insisted that it was not solely confined to Sri Lanka football.

He emphasised that FIFA had only recently increased the annual grant provided to all its 211 member nations by 20 per cent, and questioned if as alleged there had been corruption within the FFSL, whether FIFA could be prompted to release such a grant to Sri Lanka.

The plain-speaking and workaholic Football House boss, also urged all football stakeholders and supporters to remain united and focused during the crucial months ahead, as Sujan Perera’s team chased the ultimate crown in regional football supremacy.

The forthcoming tournament was postponed from 2025 due to logistics and to also align with the 2026 FIFA World Cup excitement, with Sri Lanka originally set to host with a home-and-away format.

But they withdrew due to logistics and Bangladesh was selected as the host nation, at the SAFF Executive Committee meeting in Bangkok on 26 January, 2026,

All SAFF members including Bangladesh (Host), Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Maldives and Pakistan, are expected to feature at the event, but title-holders and nine-time winners India’s participation remains uncertain at the time of writing.

This is because India are also in the inaugural ASEAN Cup (21 Sept-6 Oct), while their U23 team will be at the Asian Games during the same window.