Sri Lanka Cricket has rejected the allegations made by Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe as baseless and malicious. Sri Lanka Latest News
In a statement, Sri Lanka Cricket has stated that the Minister’s statements are malicious and appear to be designed to incite the public by having an undue influence on the existing and emerging matters related to the affairs of Sri Lanka Cricket.
As the Sports Minister, Roshan Ranasinghe does not seem to have a comprehensive understanding of the complexities related to the affairs of the association and its affiliated members, Sri Lanka Cricket said.
The announcement also states that as a director of the International Cricket Council, the SLC President is bound to respect and advance the objectives set out in Article 5 of the ICC’s Memorandum of Association.
Despite having no authority, the Sports Minister has taken the unprecedented step of communicating with the ICC and its entire membership, falsely claiming that Sri Lankan cricket officials are involved in corruption and irregularities based on a special audit report.
However, the audit report did not reveal any corruption or irregularities and the ICC and its members were well aware of the baselessness of these allegations, the cricket body said.
Moreover, the cricket administration alleges that the Minister’s continued appeal to the general public and his repeated false allegations of corruption and malpractices by Sri Lanka Cricket officials appear to be politically motivated to boost his public image.
The Sri Lanka Cricket further disclosed that as a member of the ICC, Sri Lanka Cricket is bound to comply with the key obligation set out in clause 2.4 (D) which stipulates that Sri Lanka Cricket shall operate independently without government interference.
Nevertheless, it appears that the Sports Minister is acting contrary to these ICC principles and causing deliberate harm and irreparable harm to Sri Lanka Cricket.
Sri Lanka Cricket emphasizes that the decisions of the ICC are reached at the board meetings consisting of directors representing all the member countries.
Contrary to any claims suggesting that Sri Lanka Cricket sought its suspension from the ICC, we want to make it clear that such allegations are without merit and that SLC remains steadfast in its commitment to strongly address and lift the ban imposed by the ICC.
While Sri Lanka Cricket is focusing on solving the ban issue, it appears that the Sports Minister is pursuing another agenda by manipulating the media without taking legal action regarding the allegations, said the agency.
This also raises the concern of Sri Lanka Cricket about his intention to influence public opinion and other stakeholders to achieve his aim of taking control of Sri Lanka Cricket through abuse of his powers.
Sri Lanka Cricket, which demands a fair and impartial investigation into these matters, says that it will continue to focus on the mission of protecting the integrity of cricket in this country and believes that the truth will prevail in due course.
