Postponement of LPL biggest setback to hosting Asia Cup: SLC

Sri Lanka Cricket Secretary Mohan de Silva speaks at the media conference held at the SLC headquarters yesterday in the presence of SLC CEO Ashley de Silva (left)

• Hopes to generate $ 6.5 m from tournament in UAE

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

Sri Lanka Cricket said that the biggest setback to Sri Lanka failing to host the 2022 Asia Cup was the postponement of the Lanka Premier League (LPL) third edition.

The LPL was to be played ahead of the Asia Cup in July-August and according to SLC had it taken place with so many international cricketers participating, it would have convinced the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) members and broadcaster that Sri Lanka was a safe country to host the Asia Cup.

The ACC eventually took a decision to hold Asia Cup 2022 in Dubai and Sharjah from 27 August to 11 September with Sri Lanka retaining the hosting rights.  

“Unfortunately for us, the LPL which was to be held before the Asia Cup got postponed. They said they found it difficult to bring in sponsors because of the uncertainty in the country. If we had played the LPL, we could have convinced the member countries to hold the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka. That was a big setback,” said Sri Lanka Cricket Secretary Mohan de Silva at a media conference held at the SLC headquarters yesterday.

“We tried our best to hold the tournament in Sri Lanka. We had discussions with the ACC and the Member Boards of the ACC on numerous occasions but unfortunately when we left Birmingham, they felt that the situation in Sri Lanka was not conducive to garner the confidence of not only the member countries but also the stakeholders. A tournament of this magnitude involves lots of other stakeholders like the broadcasters, sponsors.”

“The negative publicity that was shown across the world with the petrol and gas queues and all also didn’t help our cause. We didn’t want to fight them. India tried hard to persuade the countries to host it in Colombo but unfortunately, they felt that the best thing would be to hold the tournament in the UAE. If something went wrong the member countries could have blamed us and we would have incurred huge financial losses for all the boards.”

Speaking further, Mohan de Silva said: “On hindsight the change of venue was also a blessing in disguise because had we hosted the tournament, we would have received $ 2.5 million as hosting fees which would have been circulating in our country and been a great advantage. 

“But now we are not only assured of the hosting fee of $ 2.5 million from ACC but also $ 1.5 million from the ticket sales by the UAE Board. The revenue share from ACC will be in the region of $ 2.5-3 million, so overall we hope to generate approx. $ 6.5 million from this tournament.”

When it was pointed out that SLC would earn that amount of money without hardly raising a sweat, SLC CEO Ashley de Silva replied: “If you really look at it, yes. If we held the tournament in Sri Lanka, we would have created a lot of awareness about the country and we would have brought in a lot of tourism into the country if the situation was normal. Economically, the country would also have benefited.” 

Ashley de Silva said that had the Asia Cup been held in Sri Lanka and got cancelled for some reason it would have had drastic consequences for Sri Lanka.  “The other countries were very supportive of holding the tournament here, that’s why they kept on delaying it. They felt that a tournament of this magnitude with the current situation couldn’t have been played here because they didn’t want to take any chances, honestly due to the fact that if the tournament got cancelled, all the member countries would have to fund the ACC for the next two years,” said Ashley de Silva. 

“The funds what the ACC generates from this tournament, they do all their development and administrative work with all the other countries as well as the distribution for the member countries. 

“The other reason why they didn’t want to take a chance was due to the fact that the broadcaster’s (Star Sports) insurance companies found it difficult to get the insurance for the tournament and the security clearance to come here. Also, the delegates from the other countries were not prepared to come. That was the reason why they didn’t want to hold the tournament here.”

Ashley de Silva stated that the Sports Minister also tried his best by using diplomatic channels to hold the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka.