COPE summons Sri Lanka Cricket

9 May 2011 08:30 pm

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) was yesterday summoned by the parliamentary Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) following the Daily Mirror exposure on allegations of match fixing and financial misappropriation.

COPE Chairman and Senior Minister D.E.W. Gunasekara yesterday said the summons followed the series of shocking exposures in the media.

Accordingly SLC is alleged to have lost more than Rs.2 billion since the present interim committee headed by D.S. De Silva took over the administration.

“We have asked the SLC to appear before COPE and answer allegations of discrepancies in its accounts, misappropriation of funds and other irregularities. The Auditor General has been asked to make available to COPE all documents pertaining to SLC transactions and payments,” Minister Gunasekara said.

“This is the first time COPE has summoned the SLC for an inquiry. The impression in the past was that COPE had no power to probe SLC activities but our legal advisors have said COPE has constitutional power to investigate the SLC,” Minister Gunasekara said.   

The report said a whopping Rs.12 million had been spent by SLC officials by way of allowances on foreign tours in 2009. (Sandun A Jayasekera)