AHF Plans to Build Astro Turf in Colombo

The Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) has expresses their keen interest in building an international standard Astro Turf in Sri Lanka. This followed a request made to the Asian Body by the Sri Lanka Hockey Federation (SLHF) president, Mr. Vishwanathan. The proposed Astro Turf is to built in Colombo and the SLHF has sought Sports Ministry approval to refurbish the dilapidated turf at Read Avenue for this purpose. The estimated cost is US $ 400,0000.00 Although hockey in Sri Lanka has a long history, no tournament or bilateral matches have been staged in the country.
The reason is because Sri Lanka does not have international matches.

Once the proposed Astro Turf is built, Sri Lanka could make a bid to host international tournaments in 2021 and 2022, according to the Asian Federation. Among the South Asian Countries India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal all have Astro Turf facilities whereas Sri Lanka is lagging behind in the regard. The Sports Ministry has been officially informed about the AHF’s intention to build an Astro Turf in Sri Lanka and SLHF is awaiting their green light to proceed with this project.