Sri Lanka Cricket begins fresh innings

• Sports Minister dissolves previous interim board and appoints anew
• Decision follows allegations of corruption
• Election to be held early next year

By Shihar Aneez and Ranga Sirilal

COLOMBO,  (Reuters): Sri Lanka’s sports minister has appointed a new interim committee to run cricket in the island nation after dissolving the previous board following corruption allegations.

“I have appointed the new interim committee today, with people who love cricket,” Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage told reporters on Friday.

The minister’s decision comes amid media allegations of corruption at the cricket board.

“The earlier board wanted to resign soon after the World Cup, but we asked them to stay until the ongoing England cricket tour,” he said. “We will go for election in the first half of next year.”

The new board is headed by Upali Dharmadasa, who was chairman of the then Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka from 1989-95 and 1996-99, before the governing body was managed by a number of interim committees after Sri Lanka’s campaign to defend the World Cup in 1999 ended in embarrassment.

The secretary general will be Prakash Schaffter, an interim committee member from 2005-7, while former test player Sidath Wettamuni and Nimal Perera, assistant treasurer of the 2002-3 interim committee, have been named as members of the new panel.  When asked why he did not extend the term of the previous interim committee until the election in 2012, the minister said: “We need to create a proper background. I know the mafia in the sport and we need to rescue the game.”  He declined to comment on what he meant by mafia.

Local media reported that the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) had started a probe into misappropriation of funds during this year’s World Cup and an important document comprising all expenditure details had gone missing.

Last week the minister said he could still find all the details despite the missing document.  

Sri Lanka is among three countries that have been given up to two years to reorganise their boards after the International Cricket Council ordered its members to free themselves from government interference or face sanctions.  “Basically, what they have been told is that their term is finished,” Sri Lanka Cricket media manager Brian Thomas told Reuters regarding the dissolution of the previous board.  

The current panel was appointed in April 2009, mainly to oversee the co-hosting of the World Cup along with India and Bangladesh, Thomas said.

India beat Sri lanka by six wickets in the final.  A government official said a fresh committee had to be brought in to bring stability back to the SLC before an election could be held.  “You can’t have a proper election at this moment and if you have one, again corrupted people may come to the top positions,” said the official.

“So there will be another interim committee for the next six months before holding a proper election to select the board.”