Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe showed no hesitation in sending Maitland Place’s bigwigs on the brink of wilderness through gazette notification! However, on Mahela Jayawardene, Sri Lanka’s consultant coach, he is keeping mum, even after Sports Ministry appointed Committee, in it’s report, has lashed out at former Sri Lanka Captain for promoting his private business during national team’s World Cup Campaign. Is it because Mahela used to sit with a powerful former minister?
During Sri Lanka’s disastrous T20 World Cup Campaign in Australia last year, Cricket Age Exclusively published two separate stories referring team’s consultant coach Mahela Jayawardene’s involvement in personal/related business ventures: first when he opened pop-up restaurant of Ministry Of Crabs and second when he attended Kushil Gunasekera’s Foundation Of Goodness event!
Based on Cricket Age Exclusive Stories on Mahela, a 6-members high-level committee, appointed by Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe itself, specifically remarked in it’s 63 pages report that Mahela promoted his personal venture during Sri Lanka World cup campaign!
After explosive report came out, Minister has already screwed Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) big time! In response, SLC too has challenged committee’s report in Appeal Court, terming it biased and agenda driven!
However, while Minister has insured prematurely retirement from cricket politics for majority of SLC officials, he is silent on Mahela.
Ideally, during Committee’s Investigation itself Mahela should have been summoned, when even SLC officials were asked to give statements! But, it didn’t happen.
Now, when report questions Mahela’s commitment as consultant coach, even then Minister is not eager to sack him, or even penalize him! He is not even ready to ask SLC, why they gifts millions to a consultant coach, who runs for every T20 League in the World and when he joins Sri Lanka Team, he promotes his own business!
So, why Minister is silent on Mahela? Because, he used to sit with a powerful former Minister?
It should also be noted that Mahela, at first place, was not landed at Maitland Place to bring Sri Lanka Cricket Team’s performance back on track by interested parties! Instead, he was hired to counter World Cup winning legendary captain Arjuna Ranatunga, who now chairs National Sports Council (NSC).
So, its time for Minister to sack Mahela or atleast take action against him! Else, if other coaching staff members also follows the trend to promote personal business and so called philanthropists returns through an Interim committee, then every Sri Lanka Cricket Team’s overseas tour will have multiple charity events, like the one, in which Mahela participated during World Cup!
