New football tournament in the offing

By Susil Premalal

The Football Federation of Sri Lanka (FFSL) has decided to introduce a new football competition, the 2026 FFSL Champions Cup which is scheduled to begin on March 21.

According to FFSL President Jaswar Umar, the top four teams from the ongoing Super League Tournament will qualify to compete in the Champions Cup competition.

The four teams that secure qualification will be officially announced after the seventh week matches of the Super League on March 14 and 15 are completed.

Based on the results at the end of the fifth week of the Super League, Pelicans SC Kurunegala leads the standings with 11 points followed by Java Lane SC Colombo with nine points and Serendib SC Mawanella with seven points.

Three teams — Saunders SC, St. Mary’s SC Jaffna and Solid SC Anuradhapura — are currently tied with six points each. New Star SC Colombo has collected five points, while Police SC has three points so far in the competition.

The introduction of the Champions Cup is expected to add further excitement to Sri Lanka’s domestic football calendar by bringing together the top-performing teams of the Super League in a high-level knockout competition.