“How much has been spent on developing cricket?” Arjuna asks after SLC reveal record surplus

Chairman of the NSC Arjuna Ranatunga speaking to the media alongside Major General (Ret.) JR Ampemohotti (L) and Lasitha Gunaratne (C)

By Susil Premalal

Chairman of the National Sports Council (NSC) and Cricket World Cup winning captain Arjuna Ranatunga intimated that despite Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) reporting a record surplus, it was of no benefit towards the development of the sport in the country.  He made this statement following SLC’s revelation that it had recorded a surplus of Rs 6.3 billion in the last financial year, which it added was the highest ever in its history. 

“This surplus is not from playing and winning matches. This money is from television rights, from the International Cricket Council and sponsorships, so you cannot attribute this success to the SLC administration,” Ranatunga told the media yesterday. 
“We must check and see how much of this has actually been spent on the development of Sri Lanka cricket.”
He further alluded to this point by expressing disappointment that Sri Lanka had to qualify for the Cricket World Cup.

 
“It’s disappointing about the team, and how much it has fallen. When we were playing, we didn’t even pay attention to teams like Afghanistan. But now they are outperforming us and even beating them has become a challenge. Going forward it appears even qualifying for the World Cup is a challenge for us,” Ranatunga added.
He also said that the Minister was working towards the lifting of the bans imposed on Sri Lanka by FIFA and World Rugby. 
The Daily Mirror learns that Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe has already travelled to Switzerland to engage with FIFA officials, and included in his contingent is the former President of Football Sri Lanka Umar Jaswar.  The Minister incidentally barred Jaswar from contesting the FSL Elections in January, which led to FIFA banning Sri Lanka’s membership with the world body. 

High ranking officials from WR are expected to arrive in the July 4 and 5 to meet the Minister and discuss the current status of rugby administration in the country. 
Ranatunga said there is added focus on the Asian Games, which will be held in September 23 to October 8 in Hangzhou, China, with the Ministry limiting the number of athletes who will represent the country. 
“Our target is to send only athletes who are either sure medal contenders, or could potentially win a medal. We are trying to limit the contingent to 100 athletes participating in 21 sports, and 55 officials, which include managers, coaches and physios amongst others, but we may have to increase the final number,” Ranatunga said.  “We will be sending a men’s and womens cricket teams for the Asian Games and we are expecting them to win gold medals. However, going by the recent performances I am not confident that they will have a able to.”

There will also be a strict process when deciding which officials would be sent to the Asian Games. 
“We will interview officials who apply to go for the Games, and see whether they have previously travelled with any games contingents,” Ranatunga said, although he did not specify the selection criteria for these officials.  Sri Lanka did not win a single medal at the last Asian Games which was held in Jakarta.