Sri Lanka's sporty President R. Premadasa

By Hafiz Marikar

Today, 1st of May marks the 23rd death anniversary of the great sports promoter late President R Premadasa. Every single footballer in Sri Lanka, be it the young or old as well as thousands of the games fans and fanatics will remember the contribution the late President made to the game.

He walked on the playing fields of Price Park and Darley Road before entering Temple Trees and President's House. He departed from this world on May 1, 1993 due to a bomb blast.

Premadasa was born and bred among the humble and it was natural that he took to football, truly called the common man's game. As a footballer, he learnt his skills at Price Park, then known as the bastion of Ceylon football. He represented Udeni Sports Club, Kehelwatta at the commencement of his football career and played as an inside forward. He played with footballers of Saunders fame some of whom represented the country. Some of the top players were K. E. Richards, T. J. Azeez, Basheer Ahmen, Sambar Ramasamy, L. P. Solomons and M. Ismail.

Although, the late President did not gain national recognition in playing football he did much to boost the game.

A genuine and keen student of the game, he had to leave the field early in life to serve his countrymen through politics. It must be recalled here that it was he who brought football right up to the feet of the legislature when he promoted it amongst his cabinet colleagues.

In an epoch making exhibition football match between the country's parliamentarians and a team drawn from the Colombo Municipal played before a capacity crowd at the Sugathadasa Stadium on April 2 1984 the late President depicted flashes of his football prowess by scoring the solitary goal for his team with a deft placement of the ball which found the net beating an advancing goal keeper.

Off the field, the monthly grant of Rs. 80,000 given by him for the promotion of football in Sri Lanka helped in a big way. Besides his immense contribution to football, the re-developed outdoor and the Indoor Sugathadasa stadium and the Kettarama cricket stadium was built by him. He will always remain a living monument of a man who dedicated for the cause of sports in Sri Lanka.