“Ideally there should not be a single Interim Committee for any sport in Sri Lanka. The respective governing body ought to be elected or selected by the respective clubs of any given sport,” said Tony Opatha

The National cricketer and coach now turned sports promoter speaking to The Sunday Times said: “Interim Committee’s just add to the mayhem as was evident by what happened on the Indian Premier League (IPL) issue between the players and the Sri Lanka Cricket’s (SLC) Committee.”

“If you look at countries that have been successful in any given sport for a long period of time, politics does not mix in. I must also add that the Minister for his part did the right thing by allowing the Sri Lankan players to honour their contracts with the IPL”

Opatha explained; “The bulk of these players have served Sri Lankan cricket for over a decade. Most of them are in their mid thirties which essentially means they will don the National Cap for another two to three years at the most. Thus it is only fair they have something to put aside and live on once they retire”