Arjuna Ranatunga asked to resign as NSC Chairman

Arjuna Ranatunga

Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe’s senior advisor Sudath Chandrasekara it is reported has informed former national cricket captain and former MP Arjuna Ranatunga to resign from his post as Chairman of the National Sports Council with immediate effect.

This sudden move to remove Ranatunga from his post comes in the wake of a virtual meeting of the National Sports Council scheduled to be convened on Wednesday evening, where no member of the council had reportedly participated in the meeting via Zoom. Chandrasekara, it is further mentioned, has in his letter to Ranatunga stated that he should not be surprised by the council members’ move as they no longer accept him as the Chairman of the National Sports Council.

Ranatunga was appointed to the post by the Sports Minister in August last year and since taking over has ruffled a few feathers of leading sports bodies like cricket, rugby and football which has resulted in the sports bodies of rugby and football losing their status with their respective world bodies.   

With regard to cricket the Sports Minister told the Court of Appeal that he would not take any action on Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), until the Auditor General’s report on SLC is received. The Attorney General’s Department has advised the Minister of Sports to ask the National Audit Office to conduct a formal audit on the issues raised by an investigation report on incidents at the T20 men’s World Cup tournament. It is reported the audit report will be presented in the first week of next month.