Sri Lanka will experience a television black-out of the Al Barakah Twenty20 Cup cricket tournament that begins on Friday in Toronto, Canada. None of the Sri Lankan TV companies have shown interest in acquiring the rights to telecast the four-day tournament also featuring Pakistan, hosts Canada and Zimbabwe while Dialog TV said yesterday that the live telecast would not be available on any of the satellite channels either.
A live telecast however would be on and available in other parts of the world as the tournament has been sanctioned by the International Cricket Council (ICC) and all such tournaments should have live TV coverage.
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) chairman Arjuna Ranatunga has already flown to Toronto – his 14th overseas trip since assuming SLC office in January while one of the two other invitations that have been received by SLC will reportedly be utilised by Ranatunga’s close ally Suresh Edirisinghe.
Ranatunga had personally agreed to include the Sri Lanka team in the tournament after Bangladesh withdrew due to their other engagements and the SLC interim committee had been informed only later.
SLC sources said that Ranatunga should have arranged the Sri Lanka TV coverage when negotiating Sri Lanka team’s participation in the tournament. “He will nicely be on location to see the tournament while back at home, millions of cricket lovers will be kicking their heels in the dark”, added the source.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka team sources said that the players had to wait for nearly four hours in the hotel lobby upon arrival in Toronto after a strenuous air journey lasting over 20 hours, as the tournament organisers had not paid up for the hotel booking.
Frantic telephone calls to SLC officials in Sri Lanka had gone unanswered and the players had endured a frustrating wait before SLC was finally contacted and the tournament organisers in Toronto were contacted in turn and the payments had been arranged.
No one from the tournament organisers had been present at the airport to welcome the team or make necessary arrangements, added sources. Some members of the Sri Lankan community in Toronto had volunteered to help before the hotel arrangements had finally been settled.
Sources said that frustration of players had turned into a nightmare since they found out that there were no proper facilities for preparations and training prior to the tournament.
The Canadian government had finally issued visas to Zimbabwean players yesterday after initially refusing to allow the players in the country for the tournament, which prompted the frenzied organisers even to contemplate getting nearby Bermuda as a last minute replacement.
The tournament which had no title sponsor initially had roped in a United Arab Emirates based real estate company Al Barakah finally as the tournament which was on the fence became a reality at last.
-Dailymirror
A live telecast however would be on and available in other parts of the world as the tournament has been sanctioned by the International Cricket Council (ICC) and all such tournaments should have live TV coverage.
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) chairman Arjuna Ranatunga has already flown to Toronto – his 14th overseas trip since assuming SLC office in January while one of the two other invitations that have been received by SLC will reportedly be utilised by Ranatunga’s close ally Suresh Edirisinghe.
Ranatunga had personally agreed to include the Sri Lanka team in the tournament after Bangladesh withdrew due to their other engagements and the SLC interim committee had been informed only later.
SLC sources said that Ranatunga should have arranged the Sri Lanka TV coverage when negotiating Sri Lanka team’s participation in the tournament. “He will nicely be on location to see the tournament while back at home, millions of cricket lovers will be kicking their heels in the dark”, added the source.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka team sources said that the players had to wait for nearly four hours in the hotel lobby upon arrival in Toronto after a strenuous air journey lasting over 20 hours, as the tournament organisers had not paid up for the hotel booking.
Frantic telephone calls to SLC officials in Sri Lanka had gone unanswered and the players had endured a frustrating wait before SLC was finally contacted and the tournament organisers in Toronto were contacted in turn and the payments had been arranged.
No one from the tournament organisers had been present at the airport to welcome the team or make necessary arrangements, added sources. Some members of the Sri Lankan community in Toronto had volunteered to help before the hotel arrangements had finally been settled.
Sources said that frustration of players had turned into a nightmare since they found out that there were no proper facilities for preparations and training prior to the tournament.
The Canadian government had finally issued visas to Zimbabwean players yesterday after initially refusing to allow the players in the country for the tournament, which prompted the frenzied organisers even to contemplate getting nearby Bermuda as a last minute replacement.
The tournament which had no title sponsor initially had roped in a United Arab Emirates based real estate company Al Barakah finally as the tournament which was on the fence became a reality at last.
-Dailymirror
