Sri Lanka's sports ministry dissolves cricket board over corruption

Sri Lankan sports ministry has dissolved the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) Committee, following corruption allegations about the World Cup, which they co-hosted. The committee, headed by former player Somachandra de Silva, was asked to resign on Thursday.

Sri Lankan sports ministry has dissolved the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) Committee, following corruption allegations about the World Cup, which they co-hosted.

The committee, headed by former player Somachandra de Silva, was asked to resign on Thursday.

The new interim committee will be headed by Upali Dharmadasa, who was the ex-president of the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka.

After co-hosting the 2011 World Cup, SLC is going through the financial crisis and was left with a $69 million bill, with media reports signifying that SLC’s mismanagement was a sole reason for cost over-runs.

"One of the chief responsibilities is to keep an eye on the finances. We are in a financial crisis after the World Cup," Aluthgamage said

"We spent more than we budgeted for."

"The SLC cash problem will hopefully ease a bit when we shortly get a government grant and a government loan," the minister said.

The SLC is running with political intrusion since seven years but Sri Lankan sports ministry assured that it would abide by a new ICC instruction, requiring all national boards to be elected without political interference.

The new SLC committee's tenure is for six months as sports ministry promising to hold elections in January next year.