Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had summoned Sports Minister Harin Fernando to his office last Tuesday and discussed about the current status of cricket in the country.
It is also reported that the former 1996 World Cup winning Captain Minister Arjuna Ranatunge and former Sports Minister Navin Dissanayake were also present at this meeting.
Sri Lanka Mirror earlier reported that the a group of cricketers had requested for a time to meet the President and Prime Minister in order to request the removal of Harin Fernando from his Sports Minister post. Hence, it is reported that this discussion is a result of that request, Sri Lanka Mirror learns.
Harin perplexed over a letter he received after his attempt to palm the blame of the defeat on to Hathurusinghe.
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It is reported that during the meeting the serious decline in the country’s standard of cricket over the past 1 ½ months was discussed.
During their meeting it is reported that the $ 5.5 million fraud during former Sports Minister Faiszer Mustapha’s term and match fixing allegations against certain players was discussed at this meeting. The Prime Minister is said to be disgruntled over Harin’s inability to find solutions to these issues to date.
It was also discussed regarding the hopes placed on Harin that he would rectify the corruption issues plaguing Sri Lanka cricket after being appointed as the Sports Minister and his failure to rectify this issue six months after his appointment.
However, Harin faces allegations of having spent Rs. 5 million for the World Cup theme song, having sent three ministerial security officers for the World Cup to England, Himself having made two trips to England to attend the World Cup matches and allegations regarding the Badulla Cricket stadium.
It is said that the Prime Minister had advised Harin on several matters during the meeting.
Meanwhile, Cricket Age reported that the Prime Minister had pointed out during the meeting that an interim committee would be the best option in uplifting the game of cricket in the country.
(Mirror)