Sports Minister Faizer Mustapha is taking Sri Lanka Cricket for a ride for his political gains and in this scenario the game has been suffering big time in the Island.
According to Greek mythology there once lived a king in the royal house of Phrygia named king Midas. Everything he touched turned into gold. Therefore even now when someone does something legendary or becomes successful, they are referred to people with the Midas touch.
Sri Lanka too have a similar king.
However he does not live in a royal house unlike king Midas, but rather he studied at Royal College Colombo. He is not a born leader but rather a misleader, as he recently went on to embarrass his entire set of Cabinet of Ministers by obtaining their approval for a cabinet paper he submitted that contained non-existing clauses of the gazetted Sports Law. He is also a President Counsel, who shockingly displayed his lack of knowledge on the subject of law.
He also incidentally became the first Minister in the world to have submitted a bill for approval in parliament and then voted against his own submitted bill later that same evening. He comes from the household of Mustapha and he is our current king of of Sri Lanka Cricket. He is King Faizer.
However unlike king Midas our king Faizer has the amazing ability to turn anything he touches into rubber.
He has the amazing ability to stretch things and postpone important events like the Annual General Meeting of Sri Lanka Cricket and also the country’s Provincial Council Elections.
However today he is currently in Dubai, and that too on another Faizer touch mission.
This time he wishes to touch the International Cricket Council Chairman Shashank Manohar and its CEO David Richardson at a meeting he planned well ahead.
His objective is to elasticize the brains of both Chairman Manohar and CEO Richardson and obtain permission to further delay the already postponed SLC AGM until mid-2019.
Prior to departing for Dubai Minister Mustapha stated that the purpose he wishes to visit the Mecca of cricket was to focus on discussing the current interim administration of SLC and the future course of action that he wishes to take in electing an administration to run the nation’s cricket board.
For this ‘so called’ meeting, this time Faizer has taken Competent Authority of Sri Lanka Cricket Mr. Kamal Pathmasiri; Senior Deputy Solicitor General of the Attorney General Department; Mr. Sumathi Dharmawardena and the CEO of SLC Ashley De Silva for the joyride.
However what the ICC Chairman and CEO dos not know is that king Faizer has converted the Ministry of Sports in Sri Lanka into rather his own Ministry of Cricket.
Having by passed appointing an Interim Committee to govern SLC, he went on to by-pass Section 32 of the Sports Law and instead appointed his very own Ministerial Secretary Kamal Pathmasiri as the Competent Authority to govern SLC.
This by itself is a conflict of interest because who does one turn too when the Competent Authority goes on to make blunders?
In his short period so far as Sports Minister, Mustapha has taken the decision only only to ruin the Sri Lanka Cricket! When, he could have easily appointed as interim committee after May 31st, He put his secretary as Competent Authority instead to run SLC. That Competent Authority Kamal Padmasiri is busy going for overseas joyrides with SLC CEO Ashley De Silva, who has proven himself as an ‘incompetent’ administrator.
Further King Faizer has stated that he wishes to have retired judges appointed as Election Committee Members prior to any AGM being held with reference to any of the Sport Disciplines that comes under the Ministry of Sports.
But all that is a hog wash when it comes to Sri Lanka Cricket, as the SLC constitution clearly states that an Election Committee must be appointed by the stakeholders of SLC.
One can’t blame him especially with the Television Rights contract being up for renewal early next year. Then there are also many elections scheduled for next year and early 2020.
Sri Lanka Cricket is the perfect platform for any politician to launch and further strengthen his political campaigns.
It is sincerely hoped that both ICC Chairman Shashank Manohar and CEO David Richardson does not nibble on king Faizer’s offered piece of cheese and fall to his carefully laid mouse trap.
After all Sri Lanka Cricket is in grave danger with king Faizer excessively touching the sport of cricket, to which all Sri Lankans love and cherish.
