SLC Interim Committee dissolved

Dinesh Weerawansa

Minister of Sports and Public Recreation Gamini Lokuge yesterday dissolved the Interim Committee of Sri Lanka Cricket, headed by Parliamentarian Arjuna Ranatunga.

However, fresh elections to the country’s richest sports governing body are unlikely and a fresh interim administration is to be appointed shortly by the Sports Minister, under the powers vested to him under the National Sports Act of 1973.

Besides Ranatunga, the others who served in the nine-member SLC interim committee comprised K. Mathivanan (Secretary), Sujeewa Rajapaksa (Treasurer), Aravinda de Silva, Sidath Wettimuny, Guy de Alwis, Lalith Wickremesinghe, Ashok Pathirage and Premasara Epasinghe. Minister Lokuge, when contacted said he had no option but to dissolve the SLC interim administration as there had been number of unsolved issues.

“We made every attempt to solve issues the SLC interim committee have had with cricketers, members and its employees.

But all those attempts proved futile as they did not listen to us. They showed no interest to resolve the issues under the guidance of the Sports Ministry. Hence, we had no option but to remove the present interim administration,” the Minister told the ‘Daily News’ yesterday. However, Minister Lokuge ruled out the possibility of calling the long awaited annual general meeting (AGM) of the SLC and said a fresh Interim Committee would be appointed soon. Until such time, the Secretary to the Ministry of Sports and Public Recreation S. Liyanagama has been appointed to head the SLC administration.

The removal of Sri Lanka’s World Cup winning captain turned politician Ranatunga and his committee follows a running battle the SLC had with the Sports Ministry.

The SLC Interim Committee’s relations with the Sri Lanka national players too were severely strained over the Indian Premier League (IPL).

When several senior players of the Sri Lanka national team, including skipper Mahela Jayawardene, deputy Kumar Sangakkara and veteran opener Sanath Jayasuriya, were contracted to play in the 2009 IPL, Interim chief Ranatunga went ahead to sign an unscheduled tour of England.

Following differences of opinion with the players and SLC interim body, the SLC was forced to send a makeshift team - a decision which was subsequently rejected by England. There have been several allegations against the interim administration of Ranatunga, but the man who guided Sri Lanka to win the 1996 World Cup has rejected all of those.

His administration also had problems with its employees over the quality of the free lunch given to employees.

The SLC has also decided to terminate service contracts of several of its employees with effect from December 31.

The SLC was facing a dispute with a television rights deal and is set to face a US $ 300 million claim in the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) by SLC’s former TV rights holder Ten Sports.

The last effort to save the deal failed when high level talks crashed recently and the new interim committee will have to iron out the issue as a priority business.

The SLC has failed to attract sponsors and when the tenders closed recently, there wasn’t a single bidder to become the team sponsor or clothing sponsor of the Sri Lanka national team. Neither the current team sponsor Dilmah not clothing sponsor MAS Holdings have shown any interest in renewing their contracts.

Ranatunga, the first Test cricketer to head the island’s national controlling body for cricket, was appointed the Chairman of Sri Lanka Cricket Interim Committee early this year, replacing Jayantha Dharmadasa, who was the SLC Interim Chief for almost three years.

The dashing former left-handed middle order batsman, who turned 45 on December 1, had a short stint as Chairman of the SLC Cricket Committee under the Dharmadasa administration. But he resigned from the committee, which had several reputed former Sri Lanka Test players, stating that he was not happy at the way it progressed.

Better known as ‘Captain Cool’ during his playing days, Ranatunga led Sri Lanka’s 1996 champion World Cup team which beat Australia by seven wickets in the final played in Lahore on March 17, 1996.

Representing Sri Lanka in 93 Tests, Ranatunga has aggregated 5,105 runs at an average of 35.69 with four centuries and 38 fifties. Making his debut with a courageous 42 against England in 1982, Ranatunga went on to play in 269 one day internationals, aggregating 7,456 runs at an average of 35.84 with four centuries and 49 fifties. With his gentle medium pace bowling, Ranatunga has also captured 79 ODI wickets and 16 Test wickets.

Meanwhile the ousted Chairman of the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) Interim Committee, Arjuna Ranatunga said he came forward to serve Sri Lanka Cricket due to popular demand and would now step down respecting the decision of the Sports Minister.

“We have been informed that the Sports Minister has dissolved the current Interim Committee.

Accordingly, we will end our term. I have nothing else to say,” said Ranatunga when contacted by the Daily News last night.

The former Sri Lanka captain said his only aim in coming forward to head the SLC was to serve the game and give back something in return for the sport he loved the most.

The outgoing Interim Committee chief said he never indulged in any politics at the SLC and ‘played clean’ at all times. “I only wanted to make the SLC a clean place and serve cricketers. I did not go there to do any politics,” he added.

Ranatunga is expected to call a special news conference later this week to explain the developments which led to the removal of his interim administration of the SLC.

A former President of SLC (then BCCSL) is expected to be appointed as new chairman of the SLC Interim Committee, along with another former President as a senior member. At least two of the last interim committee members are expected to retain their places in the new Interim Committee to be appointed shortly.