MP Nalin Bandara raises mysterious gifting of Asia Cup tournament to UAE after Lanka was selected

By Akitha Perera

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) had made a serious mistake by allowing the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to hold the Asia Cup Cricket tournament, which was to be held in Sri Lanka, Samagi Jana Balavegaya MP Nalin Bandara said ,addressing a press conference in Colombo.MP Bandara said that the Sports Minister had not been notified of this decision.

“I know that the Asian Cricket Council makes the final decision. However, SLC could have easily informed them that we were capable of holding the tournament. Sri Lanka was scheduled to hold it and there were many advantages of holding it in the country”, he said.

The SJB MP said that the Asia Cup was to be held in 2020 but was cancelled due to the COVID pandemic.

“Then the Asia Cup was scheduled for late 2022. In mid-March the Asian Cricket Council decided to hold the event in Sri Lanka. At this time, we had extended power cuts, long queues for fuel and gas and there were transport issues. Still, we got it. Now the situation is better in the country but suddenly the venue has shifted”, he said.MP Bandara said that both Australia and Pakistan toured Sri Lanka and the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) provided the necessary fuel for those events to function smoothly.

“I am sure the scale of the Asia Cup is bigger, but we are in a better place as a country. The tournament would have brought in a lot of dollars to the country. A large number of tourists would have arrived. If 30,000 fans had arrived in Sri Lanka for the tournament, they would have spent 15 million US Dollars on tickets alone. The Tourist Board estimates that such a tourist spends about 1,800 US dollars during the stay. So, we could have got about 54 million US Dollars from them. We could have also sent the message that Sri Lanka is not a failed state”, he said.