Sri Lanka Cricket Ask for Government Grant Amid Cash Crisis

June 6, 2011

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) treasurer Sujeewa Rajapakse has revealed that the body has sought financial help from the government and state banks in an interview on the BBC Sinhala service.

The request follows capital expenditure on the recent World Cup which has put the country’s richest sports body in trouble after Rajapakse, also treasurer for the World Cup secretariat, said that unlike India and Bangladesh, Sri Lanka had to work on its venues from scratch.

The BBC have claimed that as a result of its hosting role, the SLC is facing a sizeable debt, and the crisis comes at a time when Sri Lanka is competing with Australia to host another mega sporting event, Commonwealth Games in 2018.

The BBC added that a recent report in Sri Lanka’s Daily Mirror newspaper claimed that the treasury agreed to grant a US$7.26m loan to the SLC, a figure which could be exceeded by a large amount.