The Sri Lankan Sports Minister has recently nullified the long term deal from 2004 to 2011 indicating flaws in the 2006 addendum. Gamini Lokuge instructed the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) to declare the deal null and void after receiving the finding s of a three-member committee headed by him.

 The Minister asserted that the deal was not transparent and it did not have the minister’s approval. Taj TV, the patron company of Ten Sports is not amused by the act and is not going to take it lightly. Chris McDonald, the Chief Executive Officer, Taj TV remarked, “This action by Sri Lanka Cricket had hurt our prestige and a world wide reputation very badly and we are not prepared take it lying low. We will fight with all ammunition that we possess and we will leave no stone unturned till we see the right thing is done or we are properly compensated.”

Experts see this act of the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) similar to shooting itself in the right arm. The termination of the contract with Ten Sports can result in a long dry spell of financial impoverishment for the SLC. SLC has suffered a lean time in past when they annulled their contract with WSG Nimbus. World Sports Group (WSG) was compensated with US $ 7,719,929 in 2003 by The International Arbitration Centre (SAIC) on the grounds of wrongful termination of Television and Broadcasting Rights between WSG and the then Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka (BCCSL) in 2001.

SLC seems determined to avoid legal complications and expects to resolve the issue through discussions. SLC obviously does not want the multi-million telecast right over with Ten Sports to go down the drain ahead of the domestic series against India. The deal was signed under the regime of Jayantha Dharamdasa, former SLC interim committee chairman and now a business tycoon. Dharamdasa is looking forward to meet Lokuge and find out an amicable solution to the whole issue. He asserts that the deal is completely transparent and viable keeping in mind the domestic home series against Pakistan and West Indies till 2012.

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3.25 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."

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