Serious irregularities revealed in Sri Lanka Cricket's 2025 audit examination

A recent audit examination conducted regarding the financial statements and legal prerequisites of Sri Lanka Cricket for the year 2025 has revealed serious irregularities, transparency issues, and numerous legal shortcomings in several of its major projects. R.It states that although the initially estimated cost for upgrading the floodlight system at R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium was LKR 1.705 billion, the contract was awarded for LKR 1.981 billion, exceeding that limit with an additional cost of LKR 276 million.

Only one bidder came forward for this procurement process, and the awarding of the tender by a committee comprising members of the Sri Lanka Cricket Executive Committee instead of the Cabinet Procurement Committee stipulated by government guidelines has been severely criticized by the audit. Furthermore, the institution has lost potential financial benefits due to calling for bids only at the national level instead of international bidding.

Additionally, the audit report points out that a serious conflict of interest arose during the implementation of the LKR 50.83 million development project at the Anuradhapura District Cricket Association Sports Complex, as the Chairman of the Technical Evaluation Committee also held the position of project consultant. Furthermore, although LKR 12.46 million was paid to four lawyers for constitutional amendments and legal advisory services, the management failed to submit any official documents to the audit to substantiate the fairness of their selection process.

It is also stated that a project initiated to prepare an institutional plan at a cost of LKR 165 million, which was supposed to be completed within six months, remains incomplete. In addition to LKR 8.023 million paid as allowances to committee members, exceeding the stipulated regulations, the audit report has also severely questioned the failure to deduct Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) taxes from over LKR 3.2 billion paid to players and consultants in 2023 and 2024.