A match that had the makings of an exciting encounter was not to be, as an administrative problem from the Isipathana side resulted in the postponement of theFootball match against Kingswood College in the U19 Division I Championship.
The weather seemed perfect to play a good game and the perfect setting of this match was further reflected when the players of either side took to the field to warm up before the checking of identity.
At the time of confirming of the identities of players, Kingswood College went through the process with no problems to report. It was at that point that it was discovered that Isipathana College posed a snag to the event as they could not field even the least amount of players (7) to play the match, as only five players were able to produce valid identities.
With desperate efforts made by the Isipathana coach and Master-in-Charge, they were able to provide some sort of identity for another two more players; however, Kingswood College did not entertain such documents.
The series of unfortunate events resulted in a great game being postponed.
ThePapare.com speaking to the Coach of Kingswood College;
“We cannot play a game if they (Isipathana) cannot produce valid identities of at least seven players, even though we are all set to play.” Showing hisdiscontent in how Isipathana produced makeshift identities for another two players.
ThePapare.com speaking to the Master-in-Charge of Isipathana College;
“The reason why we can only produce five valid identities is due to the fact that the secretary of the Sri Lanka Schools’ Football Association (SLSFA) has shifted to Badulla, which would take at least a week to retrieve the documents necessary for participating. The secretary should be wise to delegate authority in Colombo as well in order to negate these problems in the future.”
One could even argue that the reason for the, arguable, ‘underdevelopment’ of football is due to such inefficiencies on the part of the authorities.
The postponed match would be played at a later date decided in the very near future.
