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(news.lk) |
The president of Fifa Sepp Blatter visited Sri Lanka last week, meeting President Mahinda Rajapaksa, before travelling to the North-East to inaugurate a new football stadium on the Jaffna peninsula.
"I was last in Sri Lanka in 2005 and I am delighted to be back again in your beautiful country. This is my third visit to Sri Lanka and I see a tremendous amount of development has taken place. The opening of the Jaffna Stadium is a significant achievement and Fifa is confident that this will serve to further develop football in Sri Lanka," said Blatter.
"Your President HE Mahinda Rajapaksa renewed his assurance to support the development of local football when we met him and of course FIFA and AFC will always stand behind you, guiding and channeling our resources to help Sri Lanka develop the game and bring its social benefits to your youth," he added.
Sri Lankan Army organises football coaching for Tamil children (28 July 2014)
NPC Chief Minister CV Wigneswaran, president of the Qatar Football Federation, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage, and Germany's ambassador to Sri Lanka Jürgen Morhard, along with military officials, accompanied Blatter to the opening the facility, built after a request to the German government by the EPDP paramilitary's leader Douglas Devananda.
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The opening ceremony of the stadium, which was funded by Fifa and the German government, included a "ceremonial reception" by the military's Civil Defence Force, after which plaques were unveiled at the entrance of the facility.
"It will not only enable the youth of the area to hone their football skills, but it is a testament to National Reconciliation", said the president of the Sri Lankan football federation, Ranjith Rodrigo.
Fifa has been plagued by allegations of corruption for years, including during Blatter's last visit to Sri Lanka in 2005, when the world body was accused of failing to properly investigate corruption in the country's football association. Over $7mn had been provided until 2005 to Sri Lanka by Fifa for the development of football, however much of the money was unaccounted for.
More recently, a controversial report by Fifa, cleared Russia and Qatar of corruption over their successful bids to hold the next two world cups, however the body refused to release the full report, amongst increasing calls for its publication including by British culture secretary Sajid Javid.
Javid said Fifa's handling of the report "further calls into question their independence and transparency".
Former vice-president of Fifa Mohmed bin Hammam, who is from Qatar, was accused of paying bribes to secure the votes necessary for Qatar to win the right to host the 2018 Fifa World Cup.
Gifts bought by Bin Hamam for senior football officials around the globe included flights and accommodation worth $4,268 for Sri Lanka's former Fifa executive committee member Manilal Fernando.