Projecting itself as perfect lily white, Sri Lanka Cricket hit back at attempts to rid the administration of corruption and sack them accusing their opponents of carrying out a sinister campaign against them.
Officials of Sri Lanka Cricket stand accused of financial misdeeds, corruption, nepotism and having the power of money to buy even government officials that eventually earned them a sack last Friday but reinstated for a further two weeks on a court order.
“Without a proper investigation and without a proper report to go by and not giving us a chance to have our say, they have branded us as wrong doers in what we have done. That is why the courts have decided (to suspend our ouster)”, said Krishantha Kapuwatte the assistant secretary of Sri Lanka Cricket.
With Parliament and the country rising up against the shady and corrupt conduct of cricket officials, Kapuwatte claimed they were clean and calls for their ouster were the work of what he said were people who also administered cricket at one time.
“This is the work of people who were there at one time at Sri Lanka Cricket and who bankrupted cricket and now want to creep in again. The Minister (Roshan Ranasinghe) has been caught and I don’t know whether he knew or did not know,” said Kapuwatte.
Calls for the ouster of Sri Lanka Cricket officials became heavier after the team suffered humiliating defeats at the ongoing World Cup in India, but Kapuwatte put the blame on the backstage team.
“We have coaches to coach and it is not our business to coach. We also have managers to supervise teams and players on tour and a selection committee to pick players,” said Kapuwatte.
