Kasun bemoans footloose football

By Champika Fernando

The Football Federation of Sri Lanka has tried out everything from sacking coaches to axing the entire national team and replacing it with a young side but never has thought of changing its own administrative structure to change football’s fortunes.
Perhaps, the administrators at the lush office premises in Torrington are yet to realize this fact or may be are conveniently ignoring it for their own survival, but the former players who were unceremoniously thrown out of the national team believe that only a change could resurrect the poor man’s game.
“It’s like changing pillows for a headache, without identifying the real reason for it,” said former national striker Kasun Jayasuriya.
Kasun who is eyeing a stint with a foreign club to support his family says that the management should persist with a team and a coach for a while, giving them every single opportunity to improve their skills.
“No matter who the coach is he should be given a longer stint with the team so as the players. This is the only way to build up confidence while restructuring the competition structure giving the much the needed professional outlook,” he explained.
He said that unless and until Sri Lanka put the gear onto professionalism, football will either remain or will march backward as seen in recent years.
“Increasingly youngsters have shown reluctance to come into this game. It’s understandable as playing football will only put one from the frying pan into the fire as it has happened to us,” he added.
According to Kasun there’s a dearth in talent as children at schools level prefer cricket to football, which they know will assure a secured future if they can make it to the club level.
“That’s the difference and if we are to change the trend we need to be innovative and offer something attractive to the youngsters, which I don’t think will happen in this country,” he explained.
Kasun Jayasuriya heralded a new chapter with his entry into mainstream football 12 years back transforming him to be one of the best strikers Sri Lanka has seen in recent years but at the end of 12-years of strenuous career, the man has nothing but regrets.
“I had enough,” he says in a sober voice.
The game has not done any good to the man who dedicated his whole life to it, except giving a little publicity. He is now facing the real battle of looking at ways and means of keeping his family fire burning.
“After so many years in football I have nothing, not even a secured job. I am worried about my future, the future of my loving family.” said Kasun a father of a son.
But this isn’t the only worry he has. “The future of football seems very uncertain too,” he says.
The lack of a second string team, the absence of a football academy that would ensure continuous training for players, monitoring for coaches and a proper management structure are some of the salient features missing in our system and Kasun believes unless these are established the standard will remain at its lowest ebb.
“Look at the level of our substitutes and it’s even funny how they substitute an entire team with an inexperience lot. Had we played, at least few senior players, we might have got a different result during the AFC Challenge Cup,” he said referring to Sri Lanka’s pathetic show during the eight-nation final held in Colombo.
He has given his share to the game, helping Sri Lanka’s course in achieving that illusive success but he has not been dully rewarded.
“I am not pointing fingers at anyone, but our continuous battle to establish a retirement plan for players fell in deaf years. If they (officials) had taken at least a slight interest, we can at least shed a sigh of relief now,” he added.
A man who has scored over 50 international goals during his international career not only regrets playing football but adds that he wants a future sans football.
“I will definitely play for another few years but not after that.”
The officials who have worked along for their own survival than the game’s development will continue to turn their deaf ears to these voices and the longer they continue, shorter the life span of the game in this country would be.
As we said last week and as highlighted by this former player, a change of hands is the only way forward.