Suspended officials of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) hit back at Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe as being solely responsible for the ban imposed by the International Cricket Council (ICC).
“The Minister is totally responsible for the ban because of his political interference and the ICC was made aware of all this. In July I attended a meeting with the ICC and they told me they have decided to ban Sri Lanka because of political interference. But I pleaded with the ICC and said don’t do it that we can settle matters,” said Silva.
He denied that he or anyone else in his Committee met at a hotel at a secret meeting to persuade the ICC to ban Sri Lanka.
Silva also read out a list of 17 names on a document saying that they belong to an elite ICC Committee that the Minister was challenging by his allegation that SLC and the ICC staged a plot to ban Sri Lanka.
Silva also denied that there are underground elements and shady characters at SLC involved in betting.
“There is no one in my Committee who is a betting agent or anyone with links to bookies. As a matter of fact one of the seven members that the Minister appointed to his Interim Committee is a famous casino betting man”, said Silva.
He said he can only work towards lifting the ban in talks with the ICC provided he gets an assurance from President Ranil Wickremasinghe and that Sri Lanka will stand to lose as much as 50 million US dollars next year that includes proceeds from the Under-19 World Cup in Sri Lanka in January and the ICC’s annual general meeting in Colombo scheduled for July 2024.
“We are not rogues or drug dealers and we have not robbed five cents.
“The Minister should turn the mirror inside and then see who the rogues are. I prefer to talk to people like Kanchana (Wijesekera), Harin (Fernando), Dayasiri (Jayasekera) and Namal Rajapaksa who have done sport and not with a Minister who has not played anything,” said Silva.
He said Minister Ranasinghe’s claim that SLC attempted to withdraw money from a bank in desperation fearing their ouster had nothing to do with anything irregular other than withdraw regular funds to prepare for hosting the Youth World Cup next year.
He said neither the Minister nor a majority of Parliamentarians had studied the audit report and were merely branding them (SLC officials) as rouges.
“We (cricket officials) went to Australia for the T20 World Cup because the Minister (Ranasinghe) permitted us and he also put his name and that of his two daughters on the list to obtain visas”, said Silva.
Acting SLC secretary Crishantha Kapuwatte said they were prepared to hold discussions with the Minister and come to a settlement especially for the sake of youth cricketers who were looking forward for the U-19 tournament to be staged in Sri Lanka in January.
