Saturday, 7 September 2013 00:00
-
- {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
SRI LANKA Cricket is synonymous with corruption. Lending even more emphasis to this statement, Sri Lanka Cricket Vice President K. Mathiavanan resigned from his post in a shock move after he was compelled to withdraw from a contest with SLC Secretary Nishantha Ranathunga for the presidency of leading cricket club Colts.
The SLC Vice President had told reporters that a “mafia” controls the sport and that they have now moved beyond administrators to now even pressuring players. These statements come with great credibility and sound funeral bells for a cleaning up a beloved game.
Ranathunga therefore was appointed President of the Colts Cricket Club (CCC) uncontested, after Mathiavanan who has been the President of the Club for 12 years withdrew from the race. Ranathunga, readers will remember, is also connected to the Carlton Sports Network that was controversially established a while ago.
In his letter of resignation tendered to SLC President Jayantha Darmadasa, Mathivanan said that “circumstances that are prevailing do not permit my conscience to continue to be in this role anymore”. He was elected as Vice President of the SLC with the highest number of votes at the Annual General Meeting held earlier this year.
Mathiavanan was viewed as a major benefactor of the game and is credited for providing financial and other incentives in the forms of jobs for rural cricketers. During the years as his tenure as the Chairman for 12 years, he is credited to have spent his personal funds running into several millions for the development of the club.
Mathiavanan notably distanced himself for the controversial Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL) and has had minimal involvement in the SLC administration since of late, hardly attending the Ex-Co meetings. This clearly shows the partisan circumstances that have increasingly influenced the game.
The resignation comes hot on the heels of the cancellation of the Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL) amid allegations that SLC sold some of the franchises to Indian bookies.
The storm erupted on suspicion that two of the seven franchises during the inaugural Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL) may have been owned by bookies. According to reports, SLC officials were quick to distance themselves from the accusations, stating that the ICC Anti-Corruption Unit had to notify them if they had unearthed any evidence, but SLC cannot absolve itself of putting the integrity of the Board in line in search of quick money and exposing its players to corrupt elements.
Newspaper reports, despite refusing to divulge the name of the franchise, also reported that they had approached the senior player to fix a match and that the same company was being investigated on spot fixing charges relating to the Bangladesh Premier League. The investigations could unearth potentially embarrassing news for SLC.
However, these are not new charges as far as the SLC is concerned. Last year, from the moment SLC launched the SLPL, there have been suspicions about the way the board dealt on matters pertaining to the tournament. Somerset Ventures acquired the rights to conduct the tournament under controversial circumstances that even required a high profile probe from the Parliamentary watchdog COPE.
Repeated murky dealings on multi-million dollar contracts regarding TV rights, the establishment of the Carlton Sports Network and the dealings of the World Cup that caused a staggering loss of Rs. 7 billion are just a few instances that spring to mind when thinking of the ethics, transparency and good governance of the SLC.
No wonder COPE dubbed SLC the most corrupt institution under its purview.
