Perplexities of Lankan cricket, the timeframe and Road Map
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Are they serious about seeking a real solution - File pic by Amila Gamage
It reminds me of the four deaf men who met one another other for the first time, one fine day. All four were eager to exchange pleasantries but, there was only a huge noise that even disturbed the others around, and the discussion, in reality, was not getting anywhere. All four guys were deaf. Result – chaos.
Isn’t this the same plight our cricket is facing at present? In one forum Thilanga Sumathipala is staking his claim as loud as ever and is seen at all the important matches, along with his political cronies, without any visible impact.
From another window, former cricket veterans such as Sidath Wettimuny, Mahela Jayawardena and Kumar Sangakkara are trying to infuse some sanity into this seemingly hopeless situation but, the more they talk, the more confused the situation seems to be getting, because all such ideas are falling on deaf ears.
At the third juncture, Nishantha Ranatunga, Jayantha Dharmadasa and others are seeking legal help – looking for a direction from the Lankan judiciary and prove there are chinks in the cricketing armour of governance. But the road map to its redress is becoming rather long and winding.
At the blue corner, Sports Minister Faiszer Musthapha seems to be oblivious to all and is running helter-skelter, assuming he would be able to convince the ICC to give him more time to settle the Lankan cricket conundrum. But he, too, is running sans any direction, a draft constitution or, anyone who knows much about the ICC governance. Right now, he has all the right ingredients to ignite a cricketing disaster for Lanka’s international cricket. Yet, he, too, stands erect in his stance. But, on December 31, 2018, the ICC’s grace ends and the Lankans rather be serious on that stipulation.
Right now, Minister Musthapha seems to be in a huge dilemma and is confused! At one particular time he says he wants to have the cricket elections and, in the next move, he brings in new regulations to the Sports Law on how to hold elections to national sports associations in Sri Lanka. This means, whether with the blessings of the ICC or not, cricket elections are bound to get delayed.
More confused than ever, the Sunday Musings had no other alternative but to seek the assistance of Sports Law expert Panduka Keerthinanda to see how the present situation could be translated into sanity. Keerthinanda explained, “First of all, the sports minister has been given a mandate by the court of appeal, along with the sports body, to work out a Road Map on how to rectify the sports regulations, as well as Sri Lanka Cricket’s (SLC) constitution. His modus operandi should be to work towards a free and fair mechanism to conduct the elections under the Sports Law and the SLC constitution. Therefore, he should not name an elections committee that is appointed by the Sports Ministry. He must give the directives under the sports regulations and give the proper criteria for the stakeholders to appoint a committee that is balanced and fair. I feel, right now, the minister has misconceived the law.”
He says the most important point is that the elections committee should not only be free and fair but also be competent. It must be mindful of the necessary changes to the SLC constitution.
Yet, Keerthinanda added, “The minister of sports cannot change the constitution. The constitution has to be changed by the stakeholders. For example, if it is cricket – the cricket constitution has to be amended by the stakeholders. They can change the constitution as per the sports regulations.”
When asked if the constitution can be changed through an act of Parliament, Keerthinanda said it was not possible. He explained, “This is an independent body. One cannot interfere with cricket. Our National Sports Policy (NSP) also has to be that all federations should be independent. We have a national sports policy which has been gazetted and approved by Parliament. It is Act No. 17584/23 dated 16th May 2012. The National Sports Policy clearly mentions about the independence. The policy is aimed at creating an environment especially to ensure the independence of the sports organisations. The minister cannot go against the national sports policy.”
We pointed out that the election committee is only a part of the court stipulated Road Map. He responded, “Yes, it is only a part of the Road Map and there are so many areas that have to be amended. Without amending the regulations, you cannot amend the SLC constitution. The SLC constitution will be amended according to the sports regulations. If the sports regulations get amended in a free and fair manner, automatically, the SLC constitution will get amended and approved by the stakeholders.
“According to the sports regulations, the sports minister can amend the regulations on how the stakeholders will have the voting rights. He needs to mention in the sports regulation on how the voting rights of a stakeholder will stand. They will name as to who the stakeholders are and give the necessary criteria. For instance, the voting criteria are set with the respective clubs. But, it has to be regularised and it will be amalgamated. What I am pointing out is that the minister can change them through the regulations, but he cannot directly get involved with the clubs. Then the constitution has to be amended according to the ICC rules and sports regulations of Sri Lanka.”
We then pointed out that the ICC already has given SLC a deadline of December 31, to hold its elections, if not, we may have to face the consequences.
To that Keerthinanda said, “I am sure that ICC will never interfere with the judicial system of Sri Lanka. It will always honour the sovereignty of this country. There are similar things happening in India. India’s cricket is also run by an interim committee. So, until the case is concluded and the legal proceedings are over and a proper order is set out, the ICC may not get involved. Unless there is reasonable evidence to prove this is getting dragged on with ulterior motives. Actually, we can finish the work with the Road Map within a reasonable timeframe.
“What they have to do is to change the sports regulations, according to the Road Map. After amending the regulations, they can call the stakeholders and have a special general meeting and amend the SLC constitution — or adopt the draft constitution. Once that is done, they can call for nominations. There, you will have the elections committee with powers, and they have the criteria and the scope on how to hold the elections – everything will be mentioned in the constitution”.
Moving back to the beginning, I feel, it is now legible. But, what I cannot understand is why the sports minister has to drag his feet on the matter.
Remember, by May 2019, the Cricket World Cup is bound to be held. Then the cricket calendar is completed only up to 2020. Then there is also the TV rights deal that has to be addressed by early 2019, in all probability.
Right now we are shadow boxing. How are we going to move forward? We have a sports minister who knows very little about cricket, and a competent authority who knows even less about the mechanics of International cricket. Yet, as things are, we will not be able to have elections, at least, by June 2019. If not, can we even have an ICC approved Interim Committee to tackle the load but, whoever takes over, must be responsible for their actions, because cricket has a lot to lose at this end.