Minister of Tourism Harin Fernando has been appointed as Sri Lanka’s new Minister of Sports and Youth affairs.
In addition to the new appointment as the Sports Minister, Harin Fernando will continue to hold his ministerial portfolios of Torusim and Land.
Harin replaces Roshan Ranasinghe who was sacked from the ministerial portfolio of sports by President Ranil Wickremesinghe today.
Announcing the removal, a letter signed by the President said Roshan Ranasinghe has been removed from the portfolios of Minister of Sports & Youth Affairs, and Minister of Irrigation, with immediate effect.
The removal comes, as the President and Roshan Ranasinghe have been at odds as of late over the crisis related to the sport of cricket and Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC).
Minister Harin Fernando previously served as the Minister of Sports from 2019 – 2020, during which time he was commended by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for tackling corruption in cricket.
He was commended for working hard to bring legislation in Parliament making corruption in sports a crime where corruptors could end up in jail. Thus, making Sri Lanka the first Asian nation to legalize corruption in sports as a punishable offence.
