SJB: SLC spent Rs 67,693,679 for 14 persons to watch cricket World Cup in Australia

Ratnapura District SJB MP Hesha Withanage told Parliament yesterday that Rs 67,693,679 had been spent by Sri Lanka Cricket for 14 persons to travel to Australia to watch the Men’s T20 cricket World Cup last year.

When the waste of funds came to light following an audit conducted on the request of Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe, an actress had been used to divert public attention, MP Withanage said.

Moving a motion for an adjournment debate on the audit report on Sri Lanka Cricket, MP Withanage said that following the expose three out of the 14 persons had paid back Rs 2,596,759 to Cricket Board.

Sri Lanka Cricket had issued letters for outsiders to obtain visas and one of them had not returned, Withanage said.

SJB MP Buddhika Pathirana seconding the motion said that the government control on the game of cricket should be strengthened. “There is massive corruption at Sri Lanka Cricket,” the MP said.

Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe said he had appointed a 10-member committee, chaired by former Supreme Court Judge Justice K.T. Chitrasiri, to draft a new constitution for Sri Lanka Cricket. The committee had proposed that the new constitution should be presented to Parliament and passed as a statute so that outside forces would not be able to meddle with the Constitution.

Anura Kumara Dissanayake of the JVP-led NPP said that the report being debated in the House was not an audit report of the Sri Lanka Cricket Board but only an audit query on the SLC’s role in the Men’s T20 cricket World Cup in Australia last year. “What we need is an audit on the SLC board. The SLC board today is occupied by a bunch of arrogant persons who are beyond the control of all known regulatory mechanisms.