Would you like to reminisce a little bit of your school days?

Well. I'm from Kalutara. I was mainly educated at Tissa Central College, Kalutara. In early 60s, I was actively engaged in sports like cricket, volleyball and football at school. After that I pursued my A/L studies at Ananda College, Colombo where I played Rugby representing the school. But I couldn't finish my A/Ls.

That means your A/L studies were suddenly disrupted?

Yes! Yet I entered Law College with my O/Ls results.

How about your sports career after O/Ls?

I passed out as a lawyer in 1972. After representing Tissa Central College in sports for a short while, I lost interest in playing for national football or anything like that. I played cricket, of course in the same manner. Then in 1976, I was elected the President of the District Football Association Kalutara. The club at that time was without the post of responsible president. I really took up the challenging post merely on the vehement request made by the members of the club. They were highly interested in cricket too. I agreed to it with the condition that I should have the sole authority to select the players. I held the presidency uncontested from 1976 to 2005. All the office bearers of the club had been elected without a contest. So, somewhere in 1979, I contested for the presidency of the Football Federation of Sri Lanka.

You mean to say you were making your appearance on the national level?

Yes! I won the presidency. I've ardently served 30 years in Asian Confederation of Football. During these momentary 30 years, I would have relished success as well as failures.

Your personal life might have been sharpened by these experiences?

Well, Yes. I'm married and have got two children. My elder son is a surgeon by profession. Second son is an accountant. Somewhere in 1990, I gave up practising in Kalutara and switched over to business field. Currently I'm the chairman of HYUNDAI Lanka Ltd. I also have an investment group. Thus I have become a top businessman.

You are the Chairman of Holcim (Lanka )Ltd. The path of becoming a top businessman could not have been an easy one....

No. I didn't come to the top from the bottom. I was straightaway made the Chairman of Holcim (Lanka) Ltd. Because I had the necessary qualification and the experience for the post.

What support did you receive to promote the standard of football from then government?

Nobody has attempted to promote soccer except President Premadasa who built Sugathadasa Stadium for soccer. No government ever provided the due recognition and facility for this internationally acclaimed game.

What are the developments taken place in football so far?

Now we have a fully equipped training centres at Matara, Kalutara, Colombo, Wattala, Badulla and Mannar as well, numbering to about 12 centres altogether.

Secondly we have built a brandnew headquarters for the Football Federation of Sri Lanka. We have a fully equipped youth training centre with the basic infrastructure to produce good teams. And we have been able to provide most of the facilities for the junior national teams under 13, under 15, under 17 and under 19.

They are very well equipped and are provided with all the facilities like good coaches. We have planned a superb section of Women's Football, that is we've already produced an under 16 national team for women. And I intend to take them to Maldives or India very soon. In the same way we have a senior women's national team. When we reflect on our performance, we have well defined success. We have won SAARC Gold Cup once, we have been runner up once, we have also won the bronze medal in the SAARC. But consistently, the national team has not been able to match the required level, which is my direct failure. I personally can't put the blame on the players but rather, I place the full blame on me.

Victory or defeat is certain in sports and the players should be mentally geared to accept victory or defeat. In the recent past what do you see as reasons for the Sri Lankan team getting beaten more often than not and what can be done to eliminate those negative aspects?

It is important to focus on what the winners have and strive to be perfect by correcting the mistakes and learning new technic.

Another important point I would like to stress is that the club structure of Sri Lankan football. There are countries who play football as a profession. Most of the players in Sri Lanka play football part time.

When your profession is football, you have to look into all aspects of the sport such as physical and mental fitness, dietary systems so and so forth. Most of the Sri Lankan players do not pay their full attention to the sport. What I want to stress here is that, if you want to be a world class football player or world class football team, you have to be full time involved in football. There is no alternative way.

Do you hope to become the president of AFC?

There is nothing wrong in keeping high hopes for that position since I have been serving in this field for more than 30 years. Why not dream to end up at the top?

To turn this discussion to a business angle, what is the secret of Holcim remaining the market leader?

Undoubtedly Holcim is a very good product. Therefore people keep trust on us. The cement is made in Sri Lanka under quality controlling systems so that the quality of cement is assured. Apart from that there is a team which works hard with high team spirit.

You are a multifaceted person who is involved in many arenas as a lawyer, a businessman and sports administrator. It is obvious that holding many titles is not at all an easy thing and work load would lead to stress or depression if you do not take regular breaks from work. How do you balance your work life with recreational things?

Watching football has been the only recreation of mine. Even if I get a leisure time I spend that time making plans for future projects.

How do you balance the "business administration" and "sports administration"?

Well, I think I'm able to manage the both. When I come to office in the morning, there are various people coming to see me to discuss on sports matters.

I also pay a great attention to business and to develop it. Thus I could manage the both with proper time management.

How practicable are you when it comes to "Time Management"?

Time management has been a major aspect of my life. I'm very particular and careful in spending my time. Nevertheless, perhaps I find 24 hours a day is not enough to accomplish the required work load.

How does the disciplines of sport help you in the business?

It immensely help me to become a good team player which is a required quality in any business.

Disciplines such as following the leader, giving proper orders at the right time, getting assistance from others and humbleness which I learnt from sports are equally helpful in business.

Your work demands travelling in a great deal which steals considerable amount of your time. Do you think it is a waste of time?

There are two sides of it. There are circumstances which require face to face encounters. You cannot avoid such circumstances in order to reap the required benefit. The face to face encounter gives stronger impact than communicating over the phone or via e-mails.

I agree with the fact that it demands a g reat deal of your time, but it cannot be missed.

What is your message to the younger generation as a person who has experience in vast spectrum of fields?

The first advice I convey to the youth is that in order to achieve greater heights in the international arena , you should know the international language. If you know English you can not only own your country but also can own the world.

There is no benefit in learning dead languages. I do not men to say that one should forget one's mother tongue. Knowledge of many languages is a blessing. If you only know your mother language, your prospects are narrow.

When you want to achieve any heights, you should keep the constant determination. So that what you do will be successful.

When it comes to financial disciplines, you should always cut the coat according to the cloth.

I see one major weakness of Sri Lankans; that's they spend more than their capacity and when they are in a need they are broke. You should also set up boundaries when spending money. You have to be on constant alert of your expenditure and try to cultivate frugality within yourself because frugality is the key to financial success.