As Sri Lanka Cricket builds its dream Sports City in Jaffna to unite the nation and prepare for a solo World Cup bid, powerful forces are allegedly working behind the scenes to sabotage the project and destabilize the board ahead of next year’s T20 World Cup.
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) is facing mounting political and legal pressure as it pushes ahead with its ambitious “Sports City” project in Jaffna, a visionary plan designed to transform the nation’s cricketing infrastructure and bring together communities through sport. The project, hailed as a cornerstone of SLC’s National Pathway Program, aims to decentralize talent development and position Sri Lanka as a future host for a standalone World Cup. Yet insiders allege that certain vested interests are attempting to obstruct progress through court cases and backdoor maneuvering, targeting SLC headquarters at Maitland Place.
The Jaffna Sports City, spanning 138 acres in Mandaitivu, will be anchored by the state-of-the-art Jaffna International Cricket Stadium, a 40,000-seat facility equipped with floodlights for day-night matches. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake laid the foundation stone in early September, marking a historic milestone for Northern Sri Lanka. The stadium will include 10 center wickets with boundary distances exceeding 80 meters, meeting and surpassing ICC international standards. Construction is planned in four phases, beginning with the grand pavilion, while the broader complex will feature a swimming pool, indoor sports arena, shopping mall, hotel, and entertainment zones.
With five existing international venues located in Kandy, Dambulla, SSC, Galle, and the R. Premadasa Stadium, Sri Lanka’s new Jaffna addition would make it fully equipped to host a future ICC World Cup independently. SLC officials say the project embodies the nation’s spirit of unity and progress, offering opportunities for all ethnic and regional communities to participate in world-class cricket.
However, this vision now faces coordinated resistance. A group of individuals, described as “interested parties,” are accused of deliberately trying to derail the project and destabilize the cricket board’s operations before the upcoming T20 World Cup, co-hosted by Sri Lanka and India in 2026. At the center of the controversy, sources claim, is businessman and former SLC president Upali Dharmadasa, who is allegedly funding legal and political efforts to regain control of Maitland Place.
Upali, the estranged brother of current SLC Vice President Jayantha Dharmadasa, has long harbored ambitions to return to the top job. Insiders suggest that he has joined forces with a disgraced former cricket administrator in a renewed bid for power. A court case stemming from the 2025 SLC board elections, which the current administration under Shammi Silva won decisively, is currently pending in the Supreme Court. This has fueled speculation that the legal battle is part of a broader destabilization campaign.
Reports have also surfaced of Dharmadasa’s “dinner diplomacy.” In August 2023, he allegedly hosted over half a dozen opposition MPs at Colombo’s Waters Edge, just hours before SLC’s leadership faced parliamentary scrutiny over audit reports related to T20 World Cup spending. This gathering, seen as a strategic show of influence, reignited old fears within the cricket fraternity of political interference in sport.
Many recall the last time Upali presided over SLC during the aftermath of the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup when the board plunged into financial crisis after constructing new stadiums in Hambantota and Pallekele and renovating the Premadasa Stadium. The projects left the board with debts nearing 70 million dollars, forcing the then Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage to dissolve the board. At one point, SLC could not even pay player salaries.
Now, nearly fifteen years later, the same names are resurfacing as SLC, under the leadership of President Shammi Silva, works to strengthen its international standing. The board insists that the Jaffna Sports City and the World Cup bid represent Sri Lanka’s re-emergence as a stable and forward-looking cricketing nation. But insiders fear that the same forces that once bankrupted the board are again threatening to derail its future.
Despite these challenges, SLC remains optimistic. Construction in Jaffna continues, and officials are confident that the stadium and the broader Sports City will be completed ahead of schedule. For SLC, the project is more than a stadium; it is a statement of resilience, unity, and ambition. But with political intrigue intensifying, Sri Lanka’s cricket dreams could face another off-field battle before they shine again on the world stage.
