Sri Lanka Cricket accuses Ministry of Sports of discrepancies in expenditure of Rs 289 million grant

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) on Friday, November 24, accused the Ministry of Sports of misleading the public and SLC by providing baffling details about their spending of Rs. 289 million grant provided by SLC to the National Sports Fund. Several discrepancies were found between a document obtained by Sri Lanka Cricket from the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs under the Rights to Information (RTI) Act and the media release issued by the Ministry informing how the funds were spent.

According to SLC, the Ministry of Sports provided details of 47 items on how the SLC's grant of Rs. 289 million has been spent in their media release on November 13, 2023. However, the ministry has spent money on 67 activities instead of the 47 mentioned in the media release as per the document obtained by SLC on November 23 under the RTI Act.

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Furthermore, an evaluation of the media release of the Ministry and the document received by the SLC shows an imbalance in the figures of 33 items. Hence, the SLC has requested the Ministry of Sports to provide clarity on these differences for transparency and accountability.

Meanwhile, in another release, the SLC revealed that Wanindu Hasaranga and Dushmantha Chameera were selected in the 15-member squad by the Sri Lanka Cricket Selectors to take part in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 despite having not recovered from their injuries.

Ministry of Sports didn't approve Chameera and Hasaranga's selection

However, the duo had to be ruled out as the National Sports Selection Committee, which comes under the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs, sought medical clearance of the cricketers to approve their selection in the squad.

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Hence, the SLC failed to send them to India with the hope of playing them in the mega tournament after they’ve recovered from their injuries. Notably, Chameera eventually travelled to India to join the squad along with Angelo Mathews as reserves after a few more injuries in the squad midway through the tournament.

Chameera went on to play four matches in the tournament while Mathews played five games as Sri Lanka finished on the second-last spot (ninth) with two wins from seven matches having four points to their name.