It is being reported that following the political change on May 8 former Test Cricket Captain of Sri Lanka, Minister Arjuna Ranatunga will be appointed as the new President of the Sri Lanka Cricket Board (SLC).
The current chief of the SLC, Thilanga Sumathipala was appointed to the post on January 3, 2016, and according to regulations at the time, the term of office of any board of a national sports association was two years.
Accordingly, the term of the current board ended on January 3, 2018. As a result, a general meeting had to be called prior to March 31 to appoint a new board. However according to new regulations gazetted by Former Minister of Sports, Dayasiri Jayasekara this should happen prior to June 1. The new regulations have also increased the term of the board to four years.
It is said that the current SLC board is, therefore, looking to adopt the new regulations but if they do so they will not be required to hold an election before June 4 giving the current board two more years to be in their positions.
Due to an attempt to postpone the elections scheduled to May 20, several UNP MP’s have suggested that the board should be dissolved and a committee should be appointed instead headed by Minister Arjuna Ranatunga.
According to sources the request to accept the post has been made to Ranatunga by the UNP party leadership and a number of senior cricketers.
The move comes especially at a time where the current President of SLC, Sumathipala supported the no-confidence motion against the Prime Minister resulting in him becoming politically isolated. Allegations have also been rife that Sri Lanka cricket suffered during his tenure as SLC Chief.
Therefore if an election is called Ranatunga is expected to gain the full support of the UNP.
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