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| Sunday, 11 September 2005 |
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13 Cricketers 'cry foul' - demand more! Straight Talk by Lal Gunasekera The Interim Committee of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) does not seem to know where they are heading. They are like a bunch of nincompoops. The latest fiasco surrounding them involves the signing of contracts with a group of 13 cricketers who have been offered a sum of US Dollars 2,000/= maximum to each, which they have turned down flat and are demanding more! The demands of the cricketers are quite reasonable. Among the 13 cricketers who have been categorised by the national selectors at the request of SLC's Interim Committee are Russel Arnold, Avishka Gunawardene, Dilhara Fernando, Farveez Maharoof and Jehan Mubarak to name a few. Only 11 cricketers have signed their contracts after the selectors had categorised them into three groups. Those in Group 'A' for a US Dollars 60,000/= per year contracts are: Marvan Atapattu, Mahela Jayawardene, Sanath Jayasuriya, Muttiah Muralitharan, Chaminda Vaas and Kumar Sangakkara. Those in category 'D' and earning US Dollars 15,000/= each are:Upul Chandana, Tillekeratne Dilshan and Tilan Samaraweera, while those in category 'E' earning US Dollars 10,000/= each are:Lasith Malinga and Rangana Herath. None have been categorised into Groups 'B' and 'C'. The 13 cricketers who have been offered a measly sum compared to the amounts that the others that have signed their contracts are now up in arms, and I wonder what has happened to the Players Association of which Greame Labrooy and Roshan Mahanama initiated. Where are they now and why don't they intervene and bring about a negotiated settlement between the cricketers involved and the Interim Committee of SLC? Labrooy is now a member of the Cricket Committee, which also includes former Sri Lanka captain, Arjuna Ranatunga, who is now the Deputy Minister of Tourism in the UPFA Government. Labrooy seems to have distanced himself from the Players Association. Automatic promotion? Yet on the Interim Committee of SLC, I understand that the Tournament Committee is been pressurised to include four sides (Badureliya, Saracens, Lankan SC and Singha SC) into the Premier Championships scheduled to start in November. This is against the tournament structure which now stands at 16 teams. These four teams qualified to play in the Segment 'B' semi-finals which could not be worked off due to the Boxing Day tsunami. If they are brought in on the instructions of the Interim Committee, there will be 20 clubs in the Premier Championships this season (2005-06). I can remember Arjuna Ranatunga once saying that 16 clubs is "too much" for the Premier Championships as the standards of certain teams were poor. He wanted it reduced to 12 teams. Now, will the Tournament Committee give in to the pressure and make it 20 clubs to accommodate the four mentioned above? If they finally succumb, I wonder what Ranatunga has to say? Various other clubs have made their protests known about this affair and certain teams in Segment 'B' are also demanding a promotion if the four clubs mentioned earlier are promoted. How will it all end? It's all very interesting don't you think? Manager severely criticised SSP Kithsiri Dayananda, a Vice-President of the Sri Lanka Aquatic Sports Union (SLASU), who was the manager of Sri Lanka's six-member team for the 11th FINA World Championships in Montreal, Canada in July, has come into a lot of flak by the Technical Committee - Swimming, (TCS) of SLASU in their "Review Report" dated August 25. This states that the manager's report was "irrelevant and hollow and made no sense" and that SSP Dayananda had "conveniently and cunningly" avoided the many lapses on his part and the nuisance on the part of one of the swimmers and her mother throughout the championships. It states that the lapses on the part of the manager needs to be evaluated when considering future managers for international events as "he clearly demonstrated the lack of tact, responsibility and accountability". Further, the report of the TCS, states that the delegation was totally mismanaged from the start and accuses the manager and team of travelling to Montreal 10 days before the swimming events without reference to the TCS or the Executive Committee of SLASU, and that it cost the SLASU Rs. 450,000/= as the team idled in Montreal for eight days. Also stated in this particular report is that SSP Dayananda had not read the manual that was lying at the SLASU headquarter's for more than three months, and if he had done so, it would not have been necessary to travel to Montreal so early and would have saved SLASU about Rs. 337,000/=. It is also alleged that SSP Dayananda did not attend a single FINA technical sessions in Montreal and that he and Nethru Nanayakkara (Assistant Secretary of SLASU) had promised the swimmers clothing in excess of Rs. 55,000/= without the consent of the Exco. This has been collaborated by the Secretary of SLASU, ASP Ranmal Kodituwakku, who had overhead the conversations. The report also accuses Milinda Wickremasinghe of soliciting scholarships directly from FINA without the approval of SLASU and that he failed to compete in the 200 metres free style event that he had entered and listed in the start list, and the failure of manager to ask for an explanation from Wickremasinghe. It has also taken to task the national coach, E.G.A. Wilson, for taking the swimmers for training even before the start of the official training schedules and wasting unnecessary foreign exchange by travelling in taxis. Wilson too had not asked for an explanation from Wickremasinghe about his non-participation in the 200 metres freestyle event. Wilson in his report had stated that Mayumi Raheem's mother had not allowed him (Wilson) to work with the young girl, but communicated with her coach in Singapore via mobile phone. The controversy regarding Mayumi Raheem who was taken to Montreal on a directive of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports cost a Vice-President of SLASU, Vijitha Fernando, Rs. 650,000/= out of his own funds. Mayumi was an excellent swimmer for her age group, but fared miserably in Montreal and was not able to defend all her entry times of the three events she entered (100 metres breast stroke, 200 metres breast stroke and 50 metres breast stroke). On the other hand, Prabha Dharmadasa, improved on her entry times in the 100 metres back stroke and 50 metres back stroke, in which she established a Sri Lanka and national record. The TCS report also alleges that Nethru Nanayakkara had issued letters under his signature for the swimmers to obtain their visas to Canada without approval from either the TCS or Exco of SLASU, and that those letters should have been signed by the Secretary, ASP Ranmal Kodituwakku after Exco approval. Vanishing tricks continue The vanishing tricks by our sportsmen and women in recent times when on tour continues. The latest is by three athletes (Suminda Mendis, Indika Kumara Silva and Ravindra Kumara) all from the Army during the first two days of the Asian Athletic Championships in South Korea. The organisers in South Korea did not have any other option than to throw a severe security blanket round the Sri Lanka athletes in a bid to halt further "vanishing tricks". Thank God, no one else decamped! This happened even after the Lankan athletes signed a bond for Rs. 10 lakhs each with the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports before leaving Colombo. Now, what will happen to their guarantors? This is an interesting matter. In recent times, Sri Lankans have gone "missing" when on tour to countries like Canada, USA, Germany, England, Japan, South Korea, France and Chinese Taipei to name a few. They all decamp for financial reasons. They are successful in gaining employment in countries where their own citizens do not like to do certain jobs. They are paid well, much better than what they would have ever earned in their, motherland. This is the main reason - nothing else. What happens when they want to return? That's another interesting point. It's a well organised racket. They send back the monies they earned to their families in Sri Lanka. They "get caught" at the airport or any exit point and are deported with the government of that particular country meeting the cost of the air ticket too. That's it. They are back in their country of birth, safe and sound. The good news to come out from South Korea is the medals won by some Sri Lankans, Prasanna Amarasekera won a silver in the men's 400 metres and another silver in the 4 X 400 metres relay with Rohan Pradeep Kumara, Rohitha Pushpakumara and Manura Lanka, Rohan Pradeep Kumara also won a bronze in the men's 400 metres, while Anne Maheshi Silva won a bronze in the women's javelin throw. The golds were won by Damayanthi Darsha (women's 200 metres) and Manjula Kumara Wijesekera (men's high jump). Darsha had "switched" to the 200 metres from 400 metres and seems to have recovered from her knee injury. Well done! At least you all brought honour to the country. |
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