|
Sri Lankan Cricket (SLC), which fields one of the world's best cricket team, is supposedly bankrupt. One wonders how the parent body of a team that finished runners up in the 2007 World Cup could land up in such a mess.
Former Sri Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga, the new board president appointed by their country's President Mahinda Rajpakse, recently revealed that the board's coffers were empty and that it is surviving on bank borrowings.
Ranatunga's statement had no buyers simply because there has never been a shortage of sponsors backing Sri Lanka.
There are a few who feel that Ranatunga has made the statement to settle old scores with his adversaries who had kept him out of the cricket board.
Some former Lankan cricketers that Gulf News contacted refused to comment taking into account the sensitivity of the issue.
Remarked a former Test star: "for more reasons than one, I regret my inability to comment on this matter."
However, a few spoke on condition of anonymity and some even provided figures.
Most of them are of the opinion that the battle for power was fought at the expense of cricket board's money.
Once, when the allegations of financial malpractice had reached its peak in March 2001, the then sports minister Lakshman Kiriella had dissolved the board.
A five-member committee was then appointed to run the board's affairs and report on the activities.
The report alleged four major acts of malpractice like corruption, misuse and abuse of power and misappropriation of funds.
Young talent
Though the then president Thilanga Sumathipala took the lead to build the Dambulla International stadium, the national team was banned from playing there by the Ministry of Buddhist Affairs.
According to them, the temple that owns the land did not have the right to lease it to the board.
Since 1990, on three occasions, the Sri Lankan government has dismissed the elected cricket board on grounds of misappropriation of funds.
Fortunately for the Sri Lankan cricket board, they have in their team a bunch of match winners in the form of Sanath Jayasuriya, Mahela Jayawardene, Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas, who could bring laurels to the country.
It is said that the board members even exploited the deeds of these players. As of now, the board is being run on the money that they earn by way of prize money won by the national team.
Things have now reached a stage where there are no resources available to spend on grooming young talent.
Ranatunga, who held the position of the chairman of Sri Lanka board's cricket committee, quit in December 2005 after differences with the head of Sri Lankan cricket board Jayantha Dharmadasa.
Incidentally, Dharmadasa was made interim chairman of the board in March 24, 2005 by former sports minister Jeevan Kumaratunga.
He held the post for nearly three years after having replaced the democratically elected body of Mohan de Silva whose administration was also accused of mishandling the board's funds.
Lately it has been identified that the interim committee formed to rescue the board under Dharmadasa too spent SRs500 million on the reconstruction of the Galle cricket stadium and a further SRs225 million on the development of a new venue at Pallekelle in Kandy.
These two expenditures have stunned many and resulted in board having to operate on over draft.
Reports also claim a shortfall in revenue to the tune of SRs2.3 billion.
|
