Arjuna wants corruption allegations probed

by Roshen Steelman

Parliamentarian and World Cup winning captain Arjuna Ranatunga made a request from President Mahinda Rajapakse and the government to postpone the Local Council Elections which is scheduled to be held in March to take the best advantage in promoting the country during the ICC Cricket World Cup that gets underway on the 19th of February. Addressing a media briefing in Nugegoda yesterday, Ranatunga also requested Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage to probe corruption charges against some of the sports bodies.

"Normally in Sri Lanka we can see conflicts between political parties during an election and sometimes even members from the same party end up fighting. When these things happen during the Cricket World Cup it will not carry a good message to the international public," Ranatunga said.

"The World Cup will be a good opportunity for the government to improve the Sri Lankan image globally after the war has ended. Holding the Local Council Election during the World Cup will not help this cause," the World Cup winning captain added.

Ranatunga also hit out at some sports bodies asking the Sports Minister to probe allegations against them.

He singled out the Sports Ministry, Cricket Interim Committee and the National Olympic Committee as some of the corrupt sports bodies. During the recent budget debate, Minister Aluthgamage had requested to bring to his notice if there were sports bodies that were corrupt.

Incidentally, Ranatunga’s younger brother Nishantha is the Secretary of the Cricket Interim Committee and is under the scanner for several dubious activities including claiming Rs. 3 million as travel allowances.

Ranatunga’s former team mate D.S. de Silva is the Chairman of the Cricket Interim Committee and he appointed two of his two nephews to oversee the functions of the World Cup for salaries of Rs. 550,000 and Rs. 275,000.

All in all, the two nephews of the Chairman are the highest paid employees at Sri Lanka Cricket.

"From the day I went to Parliament I have been informing all the Sports Ministers about wrongdoings but none of them managed to take necessary action and I believe Minister Altuthgamage is a capable person to take necessary action against these elements," Ranatunga added.

At the same time he added that taking drastic action against the Cricket Interim Committee right now would hamper Sri Lanka’s preparations for the World Cup and requested the Minister to wait till the World Cup is over to clean up the mess.

In a recent talk show in India that comprised former captains Imran Khan, Viv Ricards and Kapil Dev, Ranatunga said that Sri Lanka will go onto win the World Cup while the other three Test captains tipped India to triumph.