FSL ties up with LGF to boost youth football

President of Football Sri Lanka (FSL) Jaswar Umar exchanges the official cheque with Lyca Group Chairman Alliraj Subaskaran, at the launch of the “Y-19 National Youth Football League” at a ceremony held in Colombo yesterday

Others from left: Lyca Group Chief Marketing Officer Frank Wiemann, FSL Senior VP Ranjith Rodrigo, and Lyca Group Co-founder and Lyca Health Chairman Prema Subaskaran, Lyca Group Deputy Chairman Prem Sivasamy -Pic by Daminda Harsha Perera

• Launches ‘Y-19 National Youth Football League’

By Althaf Nawaz

Football Sri Lanka (FSL) tied up with Lyca Gnanam Foundation (LGF) to boost youth football in Sri Lanka by launching the much needed ‘Y-19 National Youth Football League’ at a ceremony held in Colombo yesterday.

With the appointment of the new regime last September, under the indefatigable leadership of Jaswar Umar the youth segment will have an opportunity to revive their hopes of dribbling the ball in the most popular sport in the world with one of the great sports promoting organisation’s LGF getting on board. 

With the school football system in doldrums without a properly executed plan, this novel project initiated by FSL will attract around 11,000 Under-19 age category players who will vie for honours in 24 districts of the country.

Hambanthota and Monaragala districts will be merged as one district, while the rest of the districts will feature 440 teams from 55 cities which is a mammoth boost to rejuvenate the game in the country. 

The FSL boss took this initiative to coincide with World Governing body-FIFA’s launch of the under-20 World Cup set to commence annually from next year and competed by 32 teams, including 7 teams from Asia. Sri Lanka will be one of the first Asian countries to play in the league from this region.

The tournament will be played in two stages with the first stage beginning from July and will continue till August while the second edition will be staged until December this year. All teams will have to play their games on a home and away basis, and they will be provided with playing kits, shoes and other requirements by FSL.

“The football loving public will see a new brand of the game inducting the youth who are the future of this country. If we are to boost the standard of the game then this segment has to be given more attention, which is what we are doing. This tournament will have a massive participation of players amounting to 11,000. More importantly, this will not be limited to one segment of players and one area. The boys from the entire country will have an opportunity to unearth their skills and make their way to don the National jersey. Moreover, a League tournament of this magnitude will require a massive engagement of players,” said Jaswar Umar.

Lyca Gnanam Foundation was founded way back towards the end of 2010 by Alliraja Subaskaran who has played a key role in sponsoring football in the United Kingdom and other countries, and has partnered with FSL to empower youth - both boys and girls. This will enable them to make the game the People’s Game across communities.

LGF has a strong track record of conducting several social programs island-wide focusing on many key areas, including health, education, agriculture and youth empowerment for both men and women. With this merger their mission is to foster sustainable development enabling a brighter future for all.

“With our appointment to office this segment was a top priority, and when we needed a sponsor to get on board LGF showed their keenness to support this endeavour. With a solid background of supporting youth and sports, this tie-up will last for a long period of time empowering youth. This will also enable us to foster the young players and enable them to play for their preferred clubs at the upcoming Super League and Champions league tournaments where we have made it mandatory to include three U-19 marquee players. Overall, this merger will also assist us to scout for talent to represent the national team,” concluded Jaswar.