Friday, 19 July 2013 04:20
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WHAT with ministerial offspring trying to open aircraft doors and being denied international tournaments by the International Cricket Council (ICC) till 2023, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has had a rough few weeks. By the looks of it they are about to become even worse with 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.
In 2012 SLC made US$ 30 million from the franchise sales, which was a significant chunk of money that was further bolstered by Rs. 289 million profits made from the SLPL. The account books are going to look a lot less rosy this year as in addition to the cancellation of the SLPL, the allocation of three tests with South Africa were also scratched off to make way for the IPL knock-off.
Reports said although the agreement with franchise holders initially stipulated a 25-year period, due to requests and discussions held among the relevant parties, the franchise period was brought down to seven years. However, this concession granted has still not been sufficient to guarantee the continuous support of the franchise holders in the second year of the Premier League Series.
This year, despite three franchise holders claiming their support and enthusiasm in seeing another edition of the Premier League, their support too was conditional on the backing of the entire group of franchise holders.
Struggling with these disappointments, SLC will be hard put to iron out their finances and ensure the sustainability of the game. As allegations of mismanagement and corruption pile up, they will also find it that much harder to do what is best for the beloved game of cricket.
