Lanka's cricket CEO suspended

Sri Lanka's Board of Control for Cricket suspended its chief executive officer, Dhammika Ranatunga, in a row over television rights, official sources said in Colombo Wednesday.

The BCCSL took the action Tuesday pending a disciplinary committee inquiry into Ranatunga's public remarks slamming the way in which the cricket board had gone about finalising a television deal, the sources said.

No company has won the broadcasting rights yet.

Ranatunga, who is the elder brother of Sri Lanka's World Cup winning skipper Arjuna Ranatunga, said he was yet to be informed of reasons for the sudden action against him.

There had also been differences between board members and Ranatunga over the construction of a new cricket stadium in north-central Sri Lanka.

The latest crisis comes hot on the heels of allegations in a report by India's Central Bureau of Investigations that two Sri Lankan players were also given bribes to throw matches.

A probe is underway here to investigate the allegations against Ranatunga who led Sri Lanka to a World Cup victory in 1996 and his deputy Aravinda de Silva.

Mail Cricket Editor