…auditing process in shambles, wrongdoers go Scot free

By Shamindra Ferdinando

Sports Minister Namal Rajapaksa says USD 150,000 (approximately Rs 30mn) was spent on lawyers to justify the termination of national cricket coach Chandika Hathurisinghe by the then SLC administration. Minister Rajapaksa said that the SLC funds had been spent to negotiate the compensation owed to the sacked coach or in other words to justify the decision taken by that group in respect of the then national coach.

The Minister said so in Parliament recently in response to a query raised by SLPP Colombo District lawmaker attorney-At-Law Premanath C. Dolawatta.

Dolawatte asked Minister Rajapaksa whether authorities examined the reasons for the deterioration of cricket, what were the reasons and who were responsible for the situation?

The Sports Minister said that the issues at hand should be examined against the backdrop of SLC having hired five national coaches in five years and the previous administration deciding to go for a local coach.

 Minister’s comment on the costly Chandika Hathurusinghe case was his first in Parliament since the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE), under the chairmanship of Prof. Charitha Herath initiated inquiries several months ago. The SLPP National List MP Prof. Herath said that SLC would be summoned in the first week of Oct to examine its activities.

The then Sports Minister Harin Fernando called for Hathurusingha’s removal in the wake of Sri Lanka’s poor performance at the sixth ICC World Cup in 2019. Hathurusinghe sued the SLC over the premature termination of his contract. The COPE has been told of the role played by the then President of the Board of Control of Cricket Tilanga Sumathipala and Vice President K. Mathivanan, who quit the post in July 2020 following a spat with other board members over the Hathurusinghe affair.

Prof. Herath told the COPE meeting on April 6 if the court case in respect of Hathurusingha’s removal went against the SLC, in terms of the contract, the latter would have to pay the former coach Rs 100 mn, in addition to legal fees amounting to Rs 30 mn so far incurred. Prof. Herath pointed out that the SLC was paying a heavy price for negotiating a contract under mysterious circumstances.

Prof. Herath acknowledged that in spite of periodic examinations of the SLC finances by the parliamentary watchdog committee, the country’s most influential sporting body had managed to escape any penalty. That was the undeniable truth, the lawmaker said, adding that the SLC’s rash explanation as regards the hiring of Chandika Hathurusingha as the country’s head coach in Dec 2017 was similar to that of a plot in a detective story. 

Referring to the explanation given by CEO Ashley de Silva, who had played three Tests and four ODIs in the 80-90s for the country, Prof. Herath said that the relevant agreement had been finalised by two outsiders, namely Hathurusingha, one of the parties to the agreement, and a lawyer named Kaushalya. The SLC took up the position that the agreement was prepared in secret as Hathurusingha insisted he wouldn’t go ahead with the contract if it was revealed under any circumstances. Prof. Herath said that the whole exercise seemed to be something out of a detective story.

Perusal of the COPE proceedings revealed shoddy transparency in the entire range of transactions entered into by the SLC and the failure on the part of Sports Secretary Anuradha Wijekoon to take tangible measures in respect of fraudulent activities though being instructed by the watchdog committee.

Herath acknowledged that the longstanding issue of Rs 29 mn of the SLC funds being deposited in an account belonging to an American, identified as Diamond Channel, hadn’t been resolved in spite of their intervention. The COPE Chairman is on record as having alleged that the SLC had taken contradictory positions as regards the funds deposited in a foreign account.

The former Media Ministry Secretary has pointed out that the SLC took up vastly different positions on the money transfer before the previous COPE, chaired by JVP MP Sunil Handunnetti, on Feb 20, 2020 and subsequently on Feb 11, 2021 and April 06, 2021.

Obviously, the possibility of a deliberate bid to deceive the parliamentary watchdog committee couldn’t be ruled out, the MP said.

Herath declared that the SLC lacked even the basic financial discipline expected of such a high-profile institution. How could the SLC deposit funds received as the third installment in broadcasting revenue due to it from the Sri Lanka-South Africa 2018 series is in an American’s account, lawmaker Herath asked. Their finances had been run in such a shoddy manner, anyone of those in key positions could have moved funds anywhere with impunity, the first-time entrant to Parliament said, in response to another query.

The Island

Sports recently reported that an abortive bid had been made by the SLC to deceive the Sony Company to transfer USD 5.5 to an offshore account in Hong Kong.

According to records available with the COPE, initially the SLC’s Legal Officer Chalaka Silva had categorized the relevant agreement with the Sony Company for television broadcasting rights as a contract for radio broadcasting. When the then COPE Chairman Handunnetti pointed out what he asserted was a deliberate move to mislead parliament, the Legal Officer promptly apologised. The Legal Officer also said that the SLC’s head of finance usually provided the relevant party – in this case Sony of the required bank details.

The agreement with the Sony Company signed in July 2015 specified all details, including the number of the Bank of Ceylon account maintained by the SLC. Prof. Herath noted that  Ashley de Silva had signed the contract on SLC’s behalf.

In spite of periodic changes to the top management team, the CEO Ashley de Silva has remained at the helm for 13 years.