Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="anjuhiru" data-source="post: 15109995" data-attributes="member: 231567">SLPL to go ahead as scheduled       ESPNcricinfo staff   June 4, 2013|       Text size:    A    | A             Sri Lanka's sports ministry has backtracked on the sports minister's <a href="http://www.espncricinfo.com/srilanka/content/story/638852.html" target="_blank">comments</a>  about the Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL), and has assured that the  tournament will go ahead as scheduled. Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage  had told a local newspaper that "the tournament is in trouble" because  the franchise owners were pulling out, but a ministry release issued on  Tuesday refuted those claims.     "At no stage have the franchises refused or stated their inability to  participate in the forthcoming SLPL 2013," the release said. "The  Ministry of Sports wishes to confirm that Sri Lanka Cricket will conduct  the SLPL on the scheduled dates, from August 10 to September 07, 2013."   The seven SLPL franchises were not sold outright but were leased for a  seven-year period by SLC. Both the minister and SLPL tournament director  Ajit Jayasekara confirmed that the franchises asked for an extension of  the lease period in order to recover their costs, and the ministry  today said the requested extension was for a whopping eight additional  years, which would take the total lease period to 15 years. Sri Lanka's  attorney general is currently being consulted on whether that request  can and should be accommodated.      At present, each franchise pays an average of $4.3 million per year  for their team to compete, and this figure does not include operational  costs. Significant losses were understood to have been sustained by  every franchise during the first SLPL, but the tournament had been  pitched to them as a long-term investment, according to SLPL promotional  partners Somerset Entertainment Ventures.    The inaugural tournament had been a minor financial boon for SLC, as  the board attempts to recover from heavy debts incurred before the 2011  World Cup. Neither the sports ministry, nor Jayasekara specified what  action the franchises might take if SLC did not acquiesce to their  extension request.</blockquote>

Verification: Hathara warak wissa keeyada? (Hathara wadi karanna 20)

Top Bottom