Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe said that he agrees with all the constitutional amendments announced by FIFA.
The Minister made this comment in response to a question raised by a journalist during the press conference held at the Sports Ministry on Tuesday (21). Ranasinghe said that a committee has been appointed to commence discussions with the international federation regarding the ban on international football in the country and that he and other officials are attempting to get the ban lifted.
Speaking to the media, the Minister said: “I agree with all the constitutional amendments proposed by FIFA. There is nothing more to discuss regarding the matter. But FIFA should also deal with this impartially. It means there is no point in hearing facts from corrupt officials. If it is possible to punish the officials who discredit the country by spreading false information, I will do it.”
The Minister said that he met a FIFA delegation and discussed the matter with those officials there as well. He also said that he hopes to pay the salaries of the athletes by resolving the crisis situation in the Football Federation as soon as possible. Meanwhile, the Minister said that women’s football is currently at the forefront of the Asian level and that he has also focused on that.
The FIFA congress, with the participation of 208 countries, voted to uphold the suspension of Sri Lanka from world football last Thursday (16). A total of 197 countries voted in favour of the suspension and one country voted against the motion. Earlier in January this year, the Ministry of Sports suspended former Football Federation of Sri Lanka (FFSL) President Jaswar Umar from contesting a day before the election. Newly elected FFSL President J. Sri Ranga is yet to be recognised by FIFA.
In the meantime, this suspension prevents the Sri Lankan national football team from taking part in all international football until it is lifted. However, former FFSL President Jaswar Umar was invited to the council meeting as a guest in s personal capacity.