ICC should not make direct payments to players, Arjuna.R.

Former Sri Lanka Cricket captain and DNA MP Arjuna Ranatunga said in Parliament today that the International Cricket Council (ICC) should not directly make any payments to the accounts of Lankan players and asked the Sports Minister to look into how this was done.

“The money must be sent to Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) first and dispersed from there otherwise a bad precedent is being set by making direct payments to players,” the MP said.

The ICC had reportedly paid US$2million as part of cricketer’s salary directly to their accounts without going through the SLC. The money was due to the SLC from the ICC for hosting several matches of the last World Cup.

The DNA MP made this comment while speaking during the committee stage debate of the Ministry of Finance which he used to address the allegations leveled at him and a fellow cricketer Arvinda de Silva by former Minister of Sports, now Senior Minister Gamini Lokuge that the two had been engaged in match fixing.

“Minister Lokuge and MP Thilanga Sumathipala have tarnished my image by saying that I was involved in match fixing. This is a baseless allegation” he said.

The DNA MP said that that both ha and De Silva were cleared of any wrong doing  by an ICC inquiry held into the allegations made by an Indian bookie named Gupta in 2001.

“These treacherous allegations under the privileges of this House have not only tarnished my good image but also the game,” he said.