Sri Lanka minister appoints new interim board

COLOMBO, (Reuters) – Sri Lanka’s sports minister has  appointed a new interim committee to run cricket in the island  nation after dissolving the previous board following corruption  allegations.“I have appointed the new interim committee today, with  people who love cricket,” Sports Minister Mahindananda  Aluthgamage told reporters yesterday.

The minister’s decision comes amid media allegations of  corruption at the cricket board.
“The earlier board wanted to resign soon after the World  Cup, but we asked them to stay until the ongoing England cricket  tour,” he said. “We will go for election in the first half of  next year.”

The new board is headed by Upali Dharmadasa, who was  chairman of the then Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka  from 1989-95 and 1996-99, before the governing body was managed  by a number of interim committees after Sri Lanka’s campaign to  defend the World Cup in 1999 ended in embarrassment.  The secretary general will be Prakash Schaffter, an interim  committee member from 2005-7, while former test player Sidath  Wettamuni and Nimal Perera, assistant treasurer of the 2002-3  interim committee, have been named as members of the new panel.

When asked why he did not extend the term of the previous  interim committee until the election in 2012, the minister said:  “We need to create a proper background. I know the mafia in the  sport and we need to rescue the game.”