Sri Lanka govt dissolves cricket board

A day after the ICC asked its members to free themselves of political interference, the Sri Lanka government on Friday dissolved the country's cricket board (SLC) following allegations of financial irregularities.

Sri Lanka's sports ministry said it dissolved SLC's interim committee and appointed a panel, headed by former chairman Upali Dharmadasa, for the next six months.

Although there were allegations of corruption and mismanagement of funds against the outgoing committee, the ministry did not give any reason for its decision.

"The committee was automatically dissolved when the new one was appointed," sports ministry spokesman Harsha Abeykoon said.

The dissolution comes a day after the ICC warned all its member boards of sanctions if they fail to free themselves of government interference within a year.

The SLC has been left with debts of more than US $69 million after co-hosting this year's World Cup with India and Bangladesh, and media reports suggested that mismanagement by the Board was responsible for cost over-runs.

Sri Lanka Cricket has been run by successive interim committees --

appointed by the ministry -- for the last seven years but on Thursday the island nation said it would abide by a new ICC directive, requiring all cricket boards to be elected without any political interference.

An interim committee, headed by Somachandra de Silva, has been appointed for six months with the sports ministry promising to hold the elections -- in line with the new ICC rules – in January 2012.