What a shame !

by Brian Thomas

I was heading towards a well established caterer located at Maitland Place with a legacy dating back 110 years. My thoughts were on the fish bun I was about to munch and the cool lime juice that was in line to quench my thirst.

Alas, I nearly turned into SLC headquarters that has a similar resemblance to the famous P&S front entrance corporate identity. Despite the financial crunch the sports body is undergoing, they have not left any stones unturned in giving a facelift to the entrance, that has similarities to the caterer who boasts of a proud history of 110 years of good governance, which has made them a household name, with both urban and rural folks.

How we wish the governance and financial stability of the so-called richest sports body, could not only emulate the front entrance of P&S, but more importantly, emulate their administrative and financial governance.

Inside the closed doors of SLC, the word transparency is mentioned at all media press briefings. I wonder if the bigwigs know the meaning of this precious word?

The electronic media is still to come to terms with the awarding of local broadcasting rights.

How can you justify that the Secretary of SLC does not have access to local television bids, based on the fact that he is the CEO of a sports channel that won the bid uncontested? Will competitive electronic institutions buy this story and agree that they were all given an equal opportunity, and the bid was fair? I was the Sports Director of a leading electronic sports channel. I assure the public, that during the past era, we were written to by the SLC Secretary to send in our bids, tour by tour.

The three year rights awarded to the current broadcaster was advertized through a Government print media and on the SLC website, which is hardly logged into by the public. This was done to facilitate Nishantha Ranatunga to carry the baton and run the race himself.

What a shame. Is this transparency? Can anyone name a ruling body in world employing a CEO of a media organization as its Secretary?

Answer: Yes, in Sri Lanka. The uncontested Secretary, who forced his way in by bullying his competitors to withdraw. The same theory was used for the television deal in depriving others from competing.

I recently went into the Cricket Shop at St. Anthony’s Mawatha, in Colombo 3. The gentlemen seated at the cash desk yelled out to me stating that the owner of the Cricket Shop, Nuski Mohammed, has resigned from the Cricket Shop, to pursue his career as the Honorary Treasurer of SLC. What a joke!

I saw him again on my second visit. Apparently, a fat cheque of Rs. 1,600,000.00 was paid to the Cricket Shop by SLC for the supply of cricket equipment. I wonder how some of the other sports shops in the country feel about this. I presume they would simply say we have no chance of getting an opportunity, since the treasurer of SLC is the owner of the Cricket Shop. One does not need a rocket scientist to convince the public that SLC is the biggest client that any cricket sports shop would dream of supplying to.

I wonder if any cricket board in the world has an owner of a cricket shop as its Treasurer?

A couple of months back, SLC was delaying signing the cheque to pay salaries to its own employees, but at the same time, had no hesitation in signing the cheque of a caterer, for supplying food. The caterer had voting rights at SLC elections.

Yes, Sri Lanka does simply join the bandwagon on how to compete and win uncontested. Be a yes man, live inside those closed doors, nod your head and bring shame to your profession by endorsing that SLC is financially stable.

It is no secret that cracks have already started appearing with the franchise holders of the long awaited SLPL. The master of SLC, who openly states that he is responsible for India touring Sri Lanka and financially helping us because of his personal intervention, has openly stated that the SLPL issue is false propaganda. Mr. Secretary, we hope you are proved right. Your credibility has often been questioned.

The ‘three wise men’ met inside closed doors, to name the one day team for the five match ODI series and the T-20 against India. Chamara Kapugedera must justify his selection. Pundits talk about his talent and skill levels, but the proof of the pudding we have tasted of him, so far, tastes bitter and not palatable.

The ‘wise men’ have seen something out of the ordinary in 19-year-old Akila Dhananjaya, who hails from Panadura. How come that he was not considered for the Under-19 World Cup squad, but is parachuted into the World T-20 pool?

(The writer was the Media Manager of Sri Lanka Cricket from 2009 to 2012)

 Hits: 4     Send to Friend