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On 11 February, SLC officials were called before COPE for a second time. The hearing was mercifully brief but what was obvious from the outset was that SLC officials who attended the hearing were not prepared to answer the queries posed to them[/caption]
The weekly sports column "Square Cuts" by Sudat Pasqual
To be honest, I was not expecting much from the President, Secretary, Treasurer, or the CEO of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) when they went before the newly minted COPE (Committee on Public Enterprises) for the second time in the span of 12 months.
SLC brain trust, the term is used very loosely here, was at their depressing worst during their first innings at COPE in 2020, or so I thought. Then I watched a tape of SLC’s second inning at COPE on February 11, 2021 and was forced to change that conclusion.
Let me recap some of the revelations that came out of the first hearing in 2020.
Cricket Aid
SLC’s charitable arm Cricket Aid (CA) spent Rs.2.4 million on charitable activities and Rs.3.9 million on the person who was managing CA during a two-year period. It was also revealed that the same person started drawing his salary two months prior to being hired.
In addition, none of the SLC officials present, including the Manager of CA could provide details of the charity work undertaken. A subsequent audit has revealed that in 2016 SLC spent Rs.14 million at Lord’s to raise Rs.13 million for CA. CA also spent Rs.690,000 to audit a total of 28 receipts. CA spent another Rs.1.2 million to clear a noodle shipment from Singapore that was deemed not fit for human consumption. Some CA funds were also deposited in an account of ECB (English and Wales Cricket Board) though no one knew why.
Cricket Aid, which was established in 2004 to help the victims of the Boxing Day Tsunami, was not registered as a charity until 2016, let’s not forget.
Suriyawewa Stadium
CEO Ashley de Silva was not aware that China Harbor Corporation who constructed the Suriyawewa Stadium had tacked Rs.3 billion as penalties to their bill. The CEO said an audit couldn’t be conducted on the project because the provincial association of the area was not functioning. SLC had paid the Port Authority Rs. 2 billion for the land at Suriyawewa but the land was not handed over to SLC until COPE intervened.
Second COPE hearing
On 11 February, SLC officials were called before COPE for a second time. The hearing was mercifully brief (less than two hours). What was obvious from the outset was that SLC officials who attended the hearing were not prepared to answer the queries posed to them.
It was also obvious that SLC officials who were present were mainly concerned with covering their own rears. The CEO was passing the buck to the ex-co, the President was passing the buck to the previous committees and his own Treasurer, the Treasurer was seeking shelter from all, the Secretary to the Ministry was confused about the parameters of his authority etc. while talking over each other.
Let’s recap the low points of the second COPE hearing.
SLC President Shammi Silva was unable to explain how or who decided the number of members of the executive committee of SLC.
Secretary to the Ministry of Youth and Sports declared that SLC was independent of his ministry but, when confronted by MP Champika Ranawaka, was unable to explain why he was attending the inquiry if SLC did not come within the jurisdiction of his ministry.
The CEO did not know how many invoices were raised each month on the average. Ashley de Silva said that SLC raised 20 invoices on the average even though his organisation has not been conducting any tournaments or hosting tours due to Covid-19 from March 2020 to January 2021. He was corrected by his own accountant.
Still using same IT service
SLC is still using the same IT software and service provider that allowed the release of approximately US$ 190,000 to an unauthorised account. The CEO was unable to inform the committee the time lapse between when the monies were due and when his organisation filed a complaint of fraud when it was found the outstanding money was not received.
The CEO admitted that if he was not informed by his finance department, he would not be aware of the monies that were owed to his organisation.
On Hathurusingha contract
Neither the President nor the CEO knew how much time was left on former men’s national coach Chandika Hathurusingha’s contract when it was abrogated by SLC. Nor were they able to provide how much has been spent on legal fees on the matter. When asked why the in-house lawyer was not involved, neither could provide an answer except to say that an outside lawyer vetted the contract. President of SLC didn’t know the name of all the lawyers who were representing his organisation.
Next election
CEO Ashley de Silva admitted that Hathurusingha refused to agree to a contract with an exit clause in favour of SLC. Yet, Hathurusingha was hired, without an exit clause.
These same individuals who obviously are incapable of exhibiting shame or remorse for the misery they have brought on the game are likely to be occupying the seats of power at SLC after the next election.
Digest that, Mr. Minister!
On 11 February, SLC officials were called before COPE for a second time. The hearing was mercifully brief but what was obvious from the outset was that SLC officials who attended the hearing were not prepared to answer the queries posed to them[/caption]
The weekly sports column "Square Cuts" by Sudat Pasqual
To be honest, I was not expecting much from the President, Secretary, Treasurer, or the CEO of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) when they went before the newly minted COPE (Committee on Public Enterprises) for the second time in the span of 12 months.
SLC brain trust, the term is used very loosely here, was at their depressing worst during their first innings at COPE in 2020, or so I thought. Then I watched a tape of SLC’s second inning at COPE on February 11, 2021 and was forced to change that conclusion.
Let me recap some of the revelations that came out of the first hearing in 2020.
Cricket Aid
SLC’s charitable arm Cricket Aid (CA) spent Rs.2.4 million on charitable activities and Rs.3.9 million on the person who was managing CA during a two-year period. It was also revealed that the same person started drawing his salary two months prior to being hired.
In addition, none of the SLC officials present, including the Manager of CA could provide details of the charity work undertaken. A subsequent audit has revealed that in 2016 SLC spent Rs.14 million at Lord’s to raise Rs.13 million for CA. CA also spent Rs.690,000 to audit a total of 28 receipts. CA spent another Rs.1.2 million to clear a noodle shipment from Singapore that was deemed not fit for human consumption. Some CA funds were also deposited in an account of ECB (English and Wales Cricket Board) though no one knew why.
Cricket Aid, which was established in 2004 to help the victims of the Boxing Day Tsunami, was not registered as a charity until 2016, let’s not forget.
Suriyawewa Stadium
CEO Ashley de Silva was not aware that China Harbor Corporation who constructed the Suriyawewa Stadium had tacked Rs.3 billion as penalties to their bill. The CEO said an audit couldn’t be conducted on the project because the provincial association of the area was not functioning. SLC had paid the Port Authority Rs. 2 billion for the land at Suriyawewa but the land was not handed over to SLC until COPE intervened.
Second COPE hearing
On 11 February, SLC officials were called before COPE for a second time. The hearing was mercifully brief (less than two hours). What was obvious from the outset was that SLC officials who attended the hearing were not prepared to answer the queries posed to them.
It was also obvious that SLC officials who were present were mainly concerned with covering their own rears. The CEO was passing the buck to the ex-co, the President was passing the buck to the previous committees and his own Treasurer, the Treasurer was seeking shelter from all, the Secretary to the Ministry was confused about the parameters of his authority etc. while talking over each other.
Let’s recap the low points of the second COPE hearing.
SLC President Shammi Silva was unable to explain how or who decided the number of members of the executive committee of SLC.
Secretary to the Ministry of Youth and Sports declared that SLC was independent of his ministry but, when confronted by MP Champika Ranawaka, was unable to explain why he was attending the inquiry if SLC did not come within the jurisdiction of his ministry.
The CEO did not know how many invoices were raised each month on the average. Ashley de Silva said that SLC raised 20 invoices on the average even though his organisation has not been conducting any tournaments or hosting tours due to Covid-19 from March 2020 to January 2021. He was corrected by his own accountant.
Still using same IT service
SLC is still using the same IT software and service provider that allowed the release of approximately US$ 190,000 to an unauthorised account. The CEO was unable to inform the committee the time lapse between when the monies were due and when his organisation filed a complaint of fraud when it was found the outstanding money was not received.
The CEO admitted that if he was not informed by his finance department, he would not be aware of the monies that were owed to his organisation.
On Hathurusingha contract
Neither the President nor the CEO knew how much time was left on former men’s national coach Chandika Hathurusingha’s contract when it was abrogated by SLC. Nor were they able to provide how much has been spent on legal fees on the matter. When asked why the in-house lawyer was not involved, neither could provide an answer except to say that an outside lawyer vetted the contract. President of SLC didn’t know the name of all the lawyers who were representing his organisation.
Next election
CEO Ashley de Silva admitted that Hathurusingha refused to agree to a contract with an exit clause in favour of SLC. Yet, Hathurusingha was hired, without an exit clause.
These same individuals who obviously are incapable of exhibiting shame or remorse for the misery they have brought on the game are likely to be occupying the seats of power at SLC after the next election.
Digest that, Mr. Minister!