The Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) was embroiled in controversies when the island nation’s government auditor presented a scathing report to the cricket board officials, highlighting poor governance, corruption, and misuse of funds. The extensive report, especially concerning the use of SLC funds and numerous instances of overpayments during the Twenty20 World Cup in Australia, has led to significant repercussions. Based on the report submitted in September, the country’s Sports Minister on Monday (November 6) summarily dismissed the SLC board.
The report revealed that visa applications were sent to the Australian High Commission to purchase 56 visas for individuals, including 11 members of the executive committee, 9 SLC members, and 36 other individuals unrelated to SLC, to travel to Australia to watch the tournament. It is also noted that some of the individuals who received visas to watch the World Cup left the country and did not return (as of the report submission date). Furthermore, 23 individuals purchased tickets for Australia outside the official process, despite not needing to do so.
In addition, the information on flight details, destinations, and domestic flights used for airline ticket payments does not align with the information in the electronic airline tickets (e-tickets). These discrepancies were noted during the audit.
Expenditures for 14 members of the executive committee during their trip to Australia to watch the World Cup amounted to LKR 68,237,263. Three members reimbursed LKR 2,653,086 of these expenses. Additionally, the board sponsored the Australian tour for four journalists, incurring a cost of LKR 5,520,800.
Furthermore, the report states that SLC revised the daily foreign travel allowances for executive committee members, managers, and other supporting staff to 700 USD, 600 USD, and 475 USD, respectively, showing an increase of 75%, 71%, and 46% in allowances. Entertainment allowances for the executive committee members on foreign trips were raised from 1000 USD to 2000 USD.
As mentioned in the report, the purchase of 30 kit bags cost 4581 USD, which were used for the team and managerial staff during the tour, with medical and other expenses incurred by the team manager. The audit revealed that the purchases were made without seeking competitive quotations, and the cost for kit bags increased significantly, from 76 USD to 152.72 USD, since the previous purchase.
The report also points out that an official event was organized on October 11, 2022, in Melbourne, with the participation of the Sri Lankan cricket team. The budget for the event was charged to Sri Lanka Cricket, and the board received revenue of LKR 5,328,100 (AUD 21,454) as foreign income on February 14, 2023, which was reported to be less than AUD 3,140, as the tickets were sold to 308 participants at 125 AUD each.
The report also mentions an attempt to purchase five Super Sopper machines, which included an excessive payment of 185,000 USD through a ‘bogus manufacturer.’ In 2019, the highest bidders for the purchase of Super Soppers, even though they violated technical specifications, were considered. It is noted that ‘sending two officials to purchase the Super Soppers twice’ cost SLC 3,502,870 LKR.
An interesting point was the issuance of hospitality tickets and their mismanaged distribution. The report states that ‘100 complimentary hospitality tickets were obtained for ICC events by relatives and friends of the players in relation to the 05 matches played by the players,’ though a claim was made for the issuance of 69 tickets, and they were meant to be issued in honor of ‘relatives and friends of the players.’ However, out of the 69 claimed tickets, only 03 tickets were actually issued to players.
The report further states, “Accordingly, the team manager was informed of the fact that out of the remaining 66 tickets, 38 tickets were distributed among the executive committee members, and 07 tickets were distributed among Sri Lanka Cricket officials. Additionally, 12 tickets were given to other individuals, and the remaining 9 tickets were destroyed.”
In addition, 155 regular tickets were also destroyed, while 150 tickets were purchased by LKR 8,747,960 (out of which 76 tickets worth LKR 3,582,646 remained unused).
In the 12th Executive Committee meeting of the SLC, approval was given for the President, two Vice Presidents, Secretary, and CEO to travel to Australia for ICC Board and Committee meetings. However, only the President Shammi Silva and CEO Ashley D’Silva attended both the Board meeting and the Chief Executive Committee meeting. The report states that while all expenses for these meetings were borne by ICC, SLC also paid travel allowances for their overseas trip.
It is mentioned in the report that the remaining amount of LKR 8,636,650, initially accounted for as startup expenditure, was later removed from the accounts. The expenses were related to Chairman Shammi Silva, Vice Chairman Jayant Daruwala, and Executive Committee member Krishantha Kapuwatta in connection with Classic Travels Private Limited.
It is noted, “No action was taken to re-examine the bills related to this residual expenditure before settling the remaining amount.” It is also mentioned that no journal entries were made for these expenses, no journal vouchers were prepared, and entries were recorded using batch numbers (and not sequential invoice numbers).
Apart from financial mismanagement, two trips to Australia by CEO Ashley D’Silva during the World Cup also came under suspicion. A payment of LKR 5,087,637 was made for the trip and daily allowances. It was observed that he spent 22 days in Australia to attend a three-day committee meeting of the International Cricket Council. It is mentioned, “Despite requests for audits of the bills, Sri Lanka Cricket was unsuccessful in collecting those expenses.” No journal entries were made for these expenses, no journal vouchers were prepared, and entries were recorded using batch numbers (and not sequential invoice numbers).
Besides this, during the World Cup, SLC had to pay a laundry bill of 105 US dollars for an unrelated individual named Mobini Cave’s boarding. “Although the International Cricket Council reimbursed the 2808 US dollars in daily allowances claimed by Sri Lanka Cricket, in reality, no such expenditure was made for the Sri Lankan cricket team by the International Cricket Council. Thus, it was observed that Sri Lanka Cricket was reimbursed for an irrelevant amount by the International Cricket Council.”
It was also noted that 2,100 US dollars from foreign travel and daily allowances were settled on February 3, 2023.
In the report, it was also observed that “Sri Lanka Cricket did not take any action to investigate the expenses charged by Sri Lanka Cricket in the amount of LKR 41,734,465 (USD 113,816) recharged from Sri Lanka Cricket.” The International Cricket Council’s involvement was sought to ascertain the accuracy of these expenses.
The report concluded with 26 recommendations, including expanding the scope of regulatory matters to be overseen by the subject responsible Minister or Director of Sports, strengthening internal controls in accounting, maintaining sufficient records of SLC’s income and expenses, including physical consolidation. of tickets for purchase of air tickets, ensuring transparency when providing benefits to media personnel, and more.
Attempts were made to contact Chairman Shammi Silva, but no response was received. The former board claims that it is not subject to government audits as it does not receive government funds.