New SLC ExCo sets guidelines for financial transparency

Tuesday, 5 January 2016 00:20 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The newly-appointed Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) Executive Committee, which held its inaugural meeting yesterday, has wasted little time in following through on their pre-election promise of ensuring more financial transparency and oversight.

Financial mismanagement has been a long-term blight on Sri Lankan cricket and the executive committee has established clear guidelines by which the members of a five-man Financial Advisory Committee will be selected. The team is to consist of a member, with local and international cricket experience, who has “a sound financial background”, representatives from the Ministries of Sport and Finance, a representative from the Association of Sri Lanka Institute of Chartered Accountants, and a member with sound financial background from a member club/association nominated by SLC. It was also decided that SLC Treasurer Shammi Silva would be an ex-officio member of this committee.

The meeting also saw Sumathipala appointed to represent Sri Lanka as Director of the International Cricket Council and Jayantha Dharmadasa as the alternate Director of the ICC. Sumathipala was also nominated to represent Sri Lanka as President of the Asian Cricket Council, while Mohan de Silva was nominated to represent SLC as Director of the Asian Cricket Council.

In other key issues discussed at the meeting, six strategic areas – development, international cricket, domestic cricket, administration, finance, corporate communications – were highlighted under the SLC business plan and office bearers were appointed to oversee them.

Development will fall under SLC President Thilanga Sumathipala; international and domestic cricket will be overseen by Vice Presidents Jayantha Dharmadasa and K. Mathivanan respectively; SLC Secretary Mohan De Silva will be in charge of administration; Shammi Silva will overlook finance; while SLC Assistant Secretary Ravin Wickramaratne and Assistant Treasurer Lalith Rambukwella will be in charge of corporate communications.

Sumathipala and his team swept to victory in the SLC elections held on Sunday at the end of a seven-month period in which an interim committee headed by Sidath Wettimuny had stabilised the cricket board following years of strife and allegations of corruption.