Newly elected president of Sri Lanka Football (SLF) Jaswar Umar is determined to change the landscape of the sport in the country and herald a new dawn to lift its dwindling popularity and slump in the world rankings to rock bottom, after winning the top post by a slender margin of six votes.
“I am proud and humbled by the choice of the people,” proclaimed the 47-year-old former secretary who won one of the most closely contested elections in its history to become the 13th president of the FSL.
He fell short of his prediction of at least 115 out of the 186 votes, polling 96 in the elections held in Galle, Kandy and Polonnaruwa because of COVID-19 restrictions, to edge out his rival Dr Manil Fernando.
“I strongly believe that people want to see a new dawn for football in Sri Lanka. For 30 or 40 years the administration of football has been controlled by one clique or group. They were playing musical chairs. I don’t blame anyone personally for this. The system did not allow the right people to get elected. That is why we began the fight to change the direction of football in Sri Lanka,” said Jaswar after his historic triumph against a heavyweight and son of former FSL president Manilal Fernando.
A former Royal College footballer who took up the whistle and rose to become an international Match Commissioner, Jaswar is perhaps the first FSL president to be elected from outside the system but he has his work cut out having just one year to carry out his programmes before facing another election.
“It was not easy contesting against a formidable opposition. I believe I am the choice of the people. Even those who voted against me are reaching out to me. I sincerely seek the cooperation of everyone,” he said, though falling short of inviting former FSL president Anura de Silva and FSL’s chairman of the Medical Commission to serve in his administration.
“People have given me the mandate to change the landscape of football. It is a big responsibility which I will do,” he pledged after assuming office as FSL president at a ceremony held at Football House on Friday. He wants to reduce the number of members in the FSL executive committee which had swelled to 28 in the previous administration. “My first priority is to change the constitution and bring in administrative reforms,” he said.
He plans to ‘restart football’ by taking the sport to the rural areas and returning to basics. “We have football but I want to get back to basics where football has lost momentum by taking the game to the villages. That’s where this game belongs,” said Jaswar who garnered most of his votes from Leagues outside the Western Province.
He felt the 90 votes his rival Manil got may have been as a gesture of appreciation and gratitude for the legacy of his father Manilal Fernando.
“There are no rivals now because I’ve been getting calls from everybody. I will make sure that I will incorporate them into some of the development programmes. I will treat them equally without any political agenda. I think definitely it is my term, my chance, my opportunity. They will definitely see me as a different leader,” declared Jaswar who has a powerful team including former FSL president Ranjith Rodrigo as vice president.
The new football chief got the biggest vote of confidence from European Pro-Licence coach Amir Alagic who has transformed the Sri Lanka team dubbed the ‘Golden Army’ into a fighting unit as evidenced at the 2022 World Cup (Asia) qualifiers against Lebanon and South Korea.
“First of all, I am happy because of this change. It was quite necessary for Sri Lanka football because obviously the last management lasted too long without a positive outcome. It’s why we are 206th in FIFA rankings without youth leagues, almost nothing. That will be a tough challenge for the new administration. I think we will spend another two years fixing the problems first and then start from there,” said Alagic who pleaded for patience from the public.
“Everybody should be patient in the country. Results cannot happen overnight. It’s a long process especially when you have a situation like what we have. Number one for me is infrastructure. Working closely with the Sports Ministry and education ministry to establish grassroots football in the country. Somebody should replace Sujan (Perera) and the people in the national team. We need coach education. We have got approval for the ‘B’ licence course to be in Sri Lanka after so many years,” he said.
“I am bringing FIFA to Sri Lanka. Very soon their technical department will visit us. Many positive changes are in the offing. We need somebody like Jaswar to come to initiate all these processes. To open football to the fans again. Not keeping a low profile like what the last management did,” said the Bosnian-born Alagic who has been in the football business for many decades.
“Unfortunately, I didn’t have a good relationship with the last management. But with Jaswar who is a very educated person and very energetic, we can definitely reach the highs. Sri Lanka football I am sure will flourish after two years,” he said.
To a query whether he would have praised Jaswar if he had not won the election, Alagic replied: “Everybody knows I supported him even during the tough times in the last six months. It’s not about Jaswar or somebody else. In football its black and white. When you see somebody is educated, somebody is making clear decisions, that somebody is very straightforward, this is what football is all about.”
“I worked extremely hard in my double role with one salary in 16 months as a technical director and national coach. We are one of the rare countries in the world that improved the national team during a pandemic. We lost two games in Korea but my assessment is we are roughly placed around 180 in FIFA rankings,” he said.
Although he did not wish to talk in depth about the national team, he was eager to prove that he had achieved much with limited resources within a short time.
“We did a good job in South Korea but it is just the start. It is not development. I think the national team needs another two years to be strong honestly. I am trying to bring overseas players as well to strengthen the national team,” he said.
“We are waiting for the Super League to take off because right now it is far from expectations. We cannot dream about a strong national team without a strong Super League because the Super League should produce the players, not me. Right now, I am one of the rare national coaches in the world who must create the players for the national team. That’s not normal,” he said.
“If you look at South Korea or Lebanon, clubs are creating players. National coach is just picking the best, giving formation and tactics on how to play. But here I am forced to do everything,” said Alagic, who would like to devote himself more to FSL’s technical department.
But the key to development is making football a professional game.
“We have a Super League that is kind of semi-professional. You cannot say it is professional when we have so many officials, players and coaches who are not earning from football. Once all players, officials in clubs, secretary, manager, referees become professionals, then you can say it is a professional league,” said Alagic.
“I am the creator of the Super League. I will make sure that it is grown in a proper way,” summed up Jaswar who wants to chart a new pathway for Sri Lanka football.