SLC Lodges Complaint Against Former Sports Minister Over Misuse Of Funds

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has lodged an official complaint against former sports minister Roshan Ranasinghe for misusing the funds. They filed a complaint with the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption.

This came a day before the hearing of the case filed by SLC on Roshan Ranasinghe’s decision to sack the entire board and appoint an interim committee headed by former captain Arjuna Ranatunga.

Sri Lanka Cricket released an official statement related to the case filed by them. They stated: “The decision to file this complaint stems from the concern that Mr. Roshan Ranasinghe MP has not appropriately disclosed the utilization of funds allocated by SLC for the intended purposes.

“This move comes in the wake of a discernible disparity between the information disclosed to the media by Mr. Ranasinghe MP and the response received by SLC under a Right to Information (RTI) application, outlining the specifics of the expenditures made.”

The court is likely to hear the decision of Harin Fernando, who is Ranasinghe’s successor in the sports ministry. The latter’s move to sack the administration came after months of stand-off between them. Ranasinghe based his call on a government audit report that had accused SLC management as corrupt.

ICC Bans SLC With Immediate Effect For Breaching Its Obligations

Things haven’t been great in Sri Lanka lately. They didn’t have the greatest of time in the ICC World Cup 2023 and following that ICC banned the entire board with immediate effect for a serious breach of its obligation. They stated:

“Sri Lanka Cricket is in serious breach of its obligations as a Member, in particular, the requirement to manage its affairs autonomously and ensure that there is no government interference in the governance, regulation and/or administration of cricket in Sri Lanka.”

As they were banned, the U19 World Cup which was scheduled to take place in Sri Lanka was moved out of the country. The tournament will now be played in South Africa in January. Notably, ICC has allowed Sri Lanka to take part in matches despite the imposition of a ban.