By Champika Fernando

Sri Lanka Cricket could hold fresh elections of office bearers on or before October 19, a Sports Ministry road map states. The date, however, will be decided by the Sports Minister under whose purview SLC is currently administered.

The Government is under pressure to hold fresh elections after the International Cricket Council (ICC) gave a six month ultimatum to conduct polls or face suspension.

SLC is administered by a government appointed Competent Authority (CA) after Sri Lanka's Court of Appeal suspended cricket elections hat were scheduled for May 31 on a petition filed by Nishantha Ranatunga.

Accordingly, the CA will call an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) giving 14 days notice to appoint the Election Committee. The Sports Ministry drew the road map in consultation with the Attorney General’s Department on Appeal Court's instructions.

The EGM, therefore, could be held on July 19 with the office bearers' election taking taking place within a period of three months thereafter. As agreed in Court, seven days will be set aside for objections to nominations and seven days to defend his or her eligibility. Once the Election Committee's decision is announced with regard to objections, candidates will have one month to challenge the decision(s) of the Election Committee.