ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s parliament on Thursday handed a decision to dismiss the highest officers of the island’s Cricket Board over the 2023 World Cup debacle, a day after a neighborhood court docket granted the officers a keep order to attend not less than two weeks to remain.
In an uncommon transfer, the decision handed unanimously in a deeply divided 225-member legislature. The transfer comes amid protests close to the Sri Lanka Cricket Board headquarters within the capital Colombo, demanding the elimination of prime cricket officers.
Cricket is the preferred sport in Sri Lanka, particularly after the South Asian island nation received the World Cup in 1996.
Sri Lanka witnessed the worst efficiency by its cricket crew on the highest degree of the event because the 1999 World Cup and politicians, senior gamers and most of the people have criticized the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), the official board liable for the sport within the nation. amid allegations of corruption and its officers are shut allies of gamblers.
The Sri Lanka crew misplaced seven of 9 matches, together with to Afghanistan, and ended the World Cup marketing campaign with one of many lowest performances in sporting historical past.
“We should all unite to defeat corruption in sports activities,” Sports activities Minister Roshan Ranasinghe informed parliament earlier than all MPs anonymously voted in favor of the decision looking for the elimination of present cricket directors.
On Monday, Ranasinghe dismissed the SLC officers and appointed an interim committee headed by 1996 World Cup-winning crew captain Arjuna Ranatunga.
On the similar time, President Ranil Wickremeinghe appointed a four-member committee to research the interim committee appointed by the Sports activities Minister.
Nevertheless, on Tuesday, the Sri Lankan Courtroom of Enchantment issued a keep order and quashed the Sports activities Minister’s determination to dismiss the cricket board and reinstate the expelled officers for not less than two weeks, pending a full listening to.
The court docket accepted a petition by board chairman Shammi Silva, difficult minister Roshan Ranasinghe’s transfer to sack the Sri Lanka Cricket board and appoint an interim committee on Monday.
The court docket’s determination was criticized in Parliament, which prompted a robust assertion from the Bar Affiliation of Sri Lanka (BASL).
“The BASL strongly believes that statements made concerning ongoing authorized proceedings and references to judges, allegedly looking for cowl for parliamentary privilege, are seen as a direct menace to the independence of the judiciary,” the BASL mentioned in a press release.
Vitality Minister Kanchana Wijesekara, member of the four-member Cupboard sub-committee appointed to look at the Interim Committee for Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) and its future actions, informed Parliament that if the Worldwide Cricket Council (ICC) decides to impose a ban If, on account of the resolutions tabled in Parliament, a ban on SLC have been to come up, the 225 members of Parliament must take over duty for it. (Colombo/November 9, 2023)
