President Ranil Wickremesinghe

Sagala Ratnayake

Roshan Ranasinghe

Shammi Silva

Harin Fernando

•  President fires Sports Minister amid cricket scandal fallout
• Dismissal comes after sacked Minister Roshan Ranasinghe blames President Wickremesinghe and his Chief of Staff Sagala Ratnayake for threats received recently 
• Minister urges Speaker to ensure his and his family’s right to life 
• Sources claim Minister was sacked for bypassing Cabinet sub-committee on cricket to approach BCCI 
• Says Minister was also asked by President to explain why Mahaweli lands have been allocated to relatives and acquaintances
• Harin Fernando given sports and youth affairs portfolio in addition to tourism and land; vows to clean up cricket
• Pavithra gets irrigation

President Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday sacked the Sports and Irrigation Minister Roshan Ranasinghe after he continued a campaign of criticism against the President over the scandal involving Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC). 

Within hours, the portfolio of sports was transferred to the current Tourism and Lands Minister Harin Fernando, who previously served as the Sports Minister in 2018 while Minister Pavithra Devi Wanniarachchi, currently serving as the Minister of Wildlife and Forest Resources Conservation was appointed as the Minister of Irrigation.

A letter signed by the President confirmed that Ranasinghe was removed from the portfolios of Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs and Minister of Irrigation, with immediate effect. Soon after being sworn in as Sports Minister, Harin vowed to clean up cricket.

The dismissal of Ranasinghe came after an impassioned speech by him in Parliament yesterday in which he shockingly held President Ranil Wickremesinghe and his Chief of Staff Sagala Ratnayaka responsible for the threats he has received recently involving the scandal relating to SLC.

Ranasinghe urged the Speaker to ensure his and his family’s right to life and said the corruption within SLC and its revelations could result in an attempt on his life.

However, it was also reported the letter of dismissal was handed to Ranasinghe after he failed to respond to two inquiries made by the President relating to the Ministries under his purview. According to sources, the President questioned why Ranasinghe had taken measures to communicate with the Board of Control for Cricket in India, with the support of Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa and the Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka, when a cabinet sub-committee had been appointed to investigate the matter.

Subsequently, he had asked the Minister for an explanation regarding why the majority of beneficiaries mentioned in a cabinet paper he presented, outlining the allocation of Mahaweli lands, were his relatives and close acquaintances.

President and Ranasinghe have been at odds lately over the crisis related to the popular game of cricket and Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC). There have been several rounds of verbal attacks between SLC and Ranasinghe in recent weeks, especially after the Sri Lanka Cricket team’s dismal performance at the ICC 2023 World Cup played in India.

The removal also comes after Ranasinghe accused the President yesterday of attempting to frame him due to exposing corruption related to cricket in Sri Lanka.

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