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| Thursday, 10 June 2004 |
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SLC strikes rich deal with TV company by Sa'adi Thawfeeq Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) president Mohan de Silva said that they had struck a very attractive television deal with an existing broadcasting company for the next four years. "We have been able to successfully negotiate television rights for the next four years for an unbelievable figure," De Silva disclosed at a press conference at SLC headquarters yesterday. De Silva refused to reveal the figures because he said the SLC was meeting on Monday to send out bid documents to prospective television companies to try and match the rights which the existing broadcasting company had come up with. "We had difficulty in attracting television rights last year because of the instability and the adverse publicity that was leveled against SLC," said De Silva. "After I assumed office as president one of my priorities was to redeem the image of SLC and re-establish its credibility," he said. De Silva said that he was able to put this deal through successfully with the help given to him by ICC president Ehsan Mani when he met him in Lahore last month. "He gave me a lot of advice and guidance to negotiate with broadcasting company. He certainly helped us obtain this lucrative offer." De Silva said this offer was brought to the notice of the Sports Minister last month who was very supportive towards it. "We also requested him to nominate a representative from the Sports Ministry. He has recommended B.D. Dahanayake, a senior additional secretary to be his representative in the tender committee," said De Silva. "It is very unfortunate that when we are doing our best to get things on track there are certain elements that continue to level allegations against us, some of which are baseless," he said. "There are other major issues like the WSG Nimbus where a wrongful termination of a television contract has left us with the risk of having to pay US$ 7 million. Nobody talks about. That is one of our biggest headaches, which we are trying to resolve," he said. De Silva said that with this lucrative offer that has come their way they will be able to set off a part of it. Taj Television are the present right holders of SLC and have been granted the rights to televise the upcoming home series between Sri Lanka and South Africa in July-August. |
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