Sri Lanka’s Sports Minister has accused the country’s top cricket administrators of being “destructive and corrupt” today. Through this statement, Sri Lanka’s most popular sport, cricket, faces fresh opposition from the government.
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) is the richest cricket board in Sri Lanka. The sports minister of Sri Lanka, Roshan Fernando, has been in a face-off with SLC for several months over allegations of corruption. These allegations could potentially lead to Sri Lanka being banned by the International Cricket Council (ICC). Roshan Fernando has stated, “It is a few people with vested interests who have brought disgrace to Sri Lanka cricket. I believe the current cricket officials are disgraceful, destructive, and untrustworthy.”
In a letter to the ICC seeking their assistance in the anti-corruption campaign, he expressed these remarks. Despite a government audit of 260 pages into the financial irregularities in Sri Lankan cricket, the allegations of corruption have been denied by cricket officials. They have also refused to cooperate with the audit panel appointed by the Sports Minister.
The controversy surrounding corruption in Sri Lankan cricket has been going on for some time, involving match-fixing and bribery allegations. The ICC had previously threatened to ban SLC due to the alleged political interference by the cricket board in governing the sport.
In a bid to clean up the administration, the Sports Minister appointed a three-member panel. The cricket board officials, however, have rejected allegations of corruption and refused to cooperate with the audit panel, as well as rejecting their involvement in unethical conduct.
Sri Lanka, which won the World Cup in 1996, has had a diminishing reputation in cricket over the years. The Sports Minister is determined to hold the cricket board accountable for the deterioration of Sri Lankan cricket. Previously, another minister, Prasanna Ranatunga, had called the 1996 World Cup victory a “curse” and accused it of exacerbating corruption. Prasanna Ranatunga is the younger brother of Arjuna Ranatunga, who captained the Sri Lankan team that won the 1996 World Cup. He stated, “The World Cup victory in 1996 was a curse on Sri Lankan cricket, as it began with money flying in cricket boards and then people wanting to steal that money.”
This ongoing dispute highlights the issues of corruption and mismanagement in Sri Lankan cricket administration, which has raised concerns and controversies in the sport.
