Sri Lanka mulls options as ICC threatens to stop funds
The appointment of an interim body to run Sri Lankan cricket is in tune with laws governing the island nation, the country’s sports minister said on Friday.
The move came a day after the International Cricket Council decided to investigate possible ministerial interference following the government’s decision last month to dissolve the SLC board.
Sri Lanka’s Sports minister — Navin Dissanayake — appointed a nine-member interim committee, headed by former test opener Sidath Wettimuny, to run the sport from April 1.
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) failed to hold elections by March 31 as per laws governing sports associations in the country, and so prompted the government to appoint the committee.
“Our sovereign law is paramount to all the other laws,” Dissanayake told Reuters, adding that he had not yet received any communication from the ICC, cricket’s global governing body.
“If that is conflicting with the ICC charter, then we will have to see what we are going to do” he said.
The ICC requires free and fair elections for office-bearers who sit on member boards.
After a board meeting in Dubai on Thursday, the ICC said it was prepared to withhold funding for Sri Lankan cricket and would write to Dissanayake seeking an explanation for the intervention.
(Reuters)
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Oh dear! The minister tried to do ‘something’ it backfired badly!!!! Why not go to USAID and ask some money for SL cricket????
Are there any Western NGOs the minister can access?