SLC to donate Rs. 40 million for Olympics-bound athletes

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) will donate Rs. 40 million rupees to the Sports Ministry to support athletes representing the country at next month’s Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.

The donation is on the request of the Ministry, SLC Secretary Mohan de Silva said.

“It is very much in our thinking to support other national sports associations and deserving athletes of other sports,” de Silva added.

SLC will also bid for three major ICC events during the next seven-year tournament cycle from 2024 to 2031.

“Accordingly, bids will be submitted for the ICC T20 World Cup, Men’s Cricket World Cup, and the Champions Trophy,” SLC said in a media statement.

“Sri Lanka Cricket, in certain events, will make a ‘Joint Bid’ in collaboration with an ICC Member country or countries,” the statement also read.

Among other decisions made by the SLC Executive Committee, SLC will hold a 21-day ‘Residential Training Camp’ in Kandy for U19 Cricketers focusing on the upcoming Asian Cricket Council (ACC) U19 Tournament and the U19 International Cricket Council (ICC) Cricket World Cup, with a squad of 65 players already selected through island-wide talent profiling programmes.

The ACC U19 tournament will take place in Dubai in October this year, while the U19 ICC Cricket World Cup is scheduled for January 2022 in West Indies.

A similar programme will also be held for 26 selected cricketers, in preparation for the upcoming ‘A’ team and related squads in Dambulla starting on Friday.