COPE summons SLC again on April 6
View(s):Led by Parliamentarian Charitha Herath, COPE cross-examined SLC for nearly one-and-a-half hours on February 11 on various matters highlighted in a special audit. But the meeting was adjourned with the incompetence and ineptitude of cricket officials being exposed when they contradicted each other on questions regarding financial irregularities and procedural flaws.
The COPE members extensively questioned cricket officials on the dealings of Cricket Aid (SLC’s charity arm); the Board’s decision to set up a cricket campus in Kandy; the controversy surrounding the appointment and sacking of Chandika Hathurusingha as head coach of the national team; the alleged transfer of TV rights income to foreign accounts’ and the seven-year television rights agreement signed with Ten Sports in 2013 which reportedly caused a financial loss of over US$ 18 million to SLC.
Cricket Aid was established as a limited liability company with life membership for the SLC Executive Committee elected in 2016, ostensibly to raise funds for the eradication of chronic kidney disease. The life membership clause was changed on COPE intervention.
Its formation and financial dealings were queried by Government auditors in a special audit. The report says Cricket Aid spent more money maintaining its manager than on charity work. He reportedly earned Rs 3.9 million as salary in the last two years while the company spent just Rs 2.4 on charity during the same period.
Another contentious issue was the process followed by cricket officials in acquiring land to set up a cricket campus in Kandy.
At the last COPE meeting, its Chairman asked SLC to come to a negotiated settlement with sacked coach Chandika Hathurusingha. The Board has so far spent over Rs. 20 million as legal fees to fight a case he filed with the Lausanne-based Court of Arbitration for Sports. Hathurusingha is demanding a sum of US$ 5 million as compensation for unlawful sacking and, with an iron-clad three-year contract, he is in a strong position to win.
The COPE will also take up the controversial wire transfer fraud. The Board admitted that a recent Cyber Security Vulnerability Assessment by the PricewaterhouseCooper (PwC) found serious lapses in the computer security system in place, hinting that the alleged fraud may have resulted due to the SLC information system being compromised. This case is currently being pursued by the Criminal Investigation Department.
Another issue ]highlighted in the Audit and queried by COPE is the alleged loss of US$. 18 million when selling TV rights back in 2013. According to records, Ten Sports clinched the rights for US$ 34.873 million despite Neo Sports’ higher bid of US$ 53.115 million.