Former Sri Lanka captain Sanath Jayasuriya has denied media reports that he will contest the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) elections.
The Morning newspaper reported that Jayasuriya will compete for the role of president in the upcoming SLC elections.
According to the news report, current President Shammi Silva and former Vice President K. Mathivanan will also compete for the presidency.
However, the batting legend denied this news by issuing a statement on his social media accounts.
“I must state that all reports of my contesting the forthcoming SLC elections are false,” he said.
I must state that all reports of my contesting the forthcoming SLC elections are false. pic.twitter.com/gVci2tpBPh
— Sanath Jayasuriya (@Sanath07) January 25, 2021
Although Sanath Jayasuriya has not been involved in cricket administration before, he served as the selection committee chairman on two occasions.
Jayasuriya started serving as the chairman of selectors for the first time in January 2013. Under his selection, Sri Lanka won the 2014 ICC World T20 and the 2014 Asia Cup.
His tenure ended in 2015, and he was re-appointed as the chairman of selectors in 2016.
However, due to the poor performance of the Sri Lankan team, he had to resign along with other selection committee members in 2017.
In 2019, Jayasuriya was banned from all cricket for two years after admitting breaching two counts of the ICC Anti-Corruption Code. But his two-year ban was lifted by the ICC in November 2020.
Meanwhile, SLC appointed three members to the election committee of the SLC in accordance with the sports law regulations. This appointment was made during an extraordinary general meeting held on January 7.
According to a Sri Lanka Cricket press release, the SLC membership unanimously elected the members of the election committee.
Election Committee :
- Justice Ms. Malani Gunaratne – Retired Judge of the Court of Appeal
- Justice Ms. Shiromi Perera – Retired Judge of the High Court
- Dr. D. M. R. B. Dissanayake -Former Secretary to various Ministries