Sri Lanka’s position as Asia Cup host in UAE in jeopardy
The Sports Minister (C) and the newly appointed NSC Chairman Arjuna Ranatunga (L) have openly lashed out at SLC
The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) and Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) are in a dilemma awaiting the green light from Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Sports to organise the Asia Cup tournament in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) after the ACC decided to change the venue from Sri Lanka due to fuel shortages and political disturbances at the time the decision was taken.
Broadcasters had raised the initial objections to the tournament taking place in Sri Lanka at the time citing issues over its commercial non-viability as a result.
SLC remains the host of the tournament in UAE but its officials are currently still in Sri Lanka, unable to travel to the West Asian emirate to make logistical and other operational arrangements for the tournament without the Minister’s approval.
The Asia Cup was to be played in Sri Lanka later this month and retain hosting rights, but can lose these rights if it is unable to make the arrangements for visiting players and the media.
In an email to ACC President Jay Shah, Star India, the host broadcaster of the tournament had called for the shifting of the tournament from Sri Lanka at the time saying; “The air of uncertainty across multiple facets of the tournament will also have bearing on potential commercialization, putting pressure on ACC’s partners, including its rights-holders. Given these circumstances, we would strongly urge the ACC to consider shifting Asia Cup 2022 to another country.”
However, the decision to shift the venue to UAE was questioned in Parliament recently by an opposition MP and this position was later backed by Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe and Chairman of the National Sports Council Arjuna Ranatunga who said the SLC had not lobbied enough to retain the tournament in Sri Lanka. They questioned SLC saying if Australia and Pakistan could tour Sri Lanka amidst the crisis, why could they not host the Asia Cup.
“These are wild allegations to bring discredit to the institution with ulterior motives,” said SLC Secretary Mohan de Silva.
“It is very unfortunate to see responsible people who represent the masses of our country talking without verifying facts and misleading the general public.”
He said SLC lobbied hard to play the tournament in Sri Lanka considering the impact on the country’s flagging economy, but the prevailing instability and insecurity forced ACC members to move the tournament elsewhere.
“We are aware of the positive impact on the country’s economy had we hosted the tournament here, but there were strong reservations from the host broadcaster Star Sports,” de Silva said.
The Ministry has later, written to the ACC chief seeking an explanation over the venue change. Sources said the ACC chief had then written to the Sports Minister explaining the circumstances that forced its members to decide on the change of venue despite strong lobbying by the SLC to host it in Sri Lanka.
The ACC, being the titleholder of the event, needed to consider far wider factors, including the demands of all stakeholders and commercial rights partners, which are imperative for successfully hosting the event, SLC states.
“Unfortunately, the situation in Sri Lanka is currently not favourable to garner the confidence of key stakeholders of ACC for such an important multi-team tournament,” ACC President Jay Shah wrote to SLC chief Shammi Silva.
Following the ACC’s decision, SLC signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with UAE Cricket Board to carry out operational and logistic arrangements jointly. SLC sources confirmed that, despite the dilemma and absence of local officials in the UAE, they are going ahead with organising the tournament ‘remotely’ with the support of the UAE board and ACC.
According to the sequential order in hosting of the Asia Cup, the tournament was initially scheduled to be held in 2020. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 Asia Cup was first postponed to 2021 with Sri Lanka set to host the event. It was later delayed to 2022.
The Sports Minister has also delayed the ratification of the Sri Lanka T20 team for the Asia Cup 2022, stating that he did not receive the selected squad in time.
As hosts, Sri Lanka will earn an income of US$ 6.5 million, but its hotels and spectators will lose out on the change of venue due to the economic and political crisis that prevailed at the time the decision to change the venue was taken. The Asia Cup is scheduled to begin on August 27, and will run until September 11.