SLPL to go ahead as scheduled

Sri Lanka's sports ministry has backtracked on the sports minister's comments about the Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL), and has assured that the tournament will go ahead as scheduled. Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage had told a local newspaper that "the tournament is in trouble" because the franchise owners were pulling out, but a ministry release issued on Tuesday refuted those claims.

"At no stage have the franchises refused or stated their inability to participate in the forthcoming SLPL 2013," the release said. "The Ministry of Sports wishes to confirm that Sri Lanka Cricket will conduct the SLPL on the scheduled dates, from August 10 to September 07, 2013."

The seven SLPL franchises were not sold outright but were leased for a seven-year period by SLC. Both the minister and SLPL tournament director Ajit Jayasekara confirmed that the franchises asked for an extension of the lease period in order to recover their costs, and the ministry today said the requested extension was for a whopping eight additional years, which would take the total lease period to 15 years. Sri Lanka's attorney general is currently being consulted on whether that request can and should be accommodated.

At present, each franchise pays an average of $4.3 million per year for their team to compete, and this figure does not include operational costs. Significant losses were understood to have been sustained by every franchise during the first SLPL, but the tournament had been pitched to them as a long-term investment, according to SLPL promotional partners Somerset Entertainment Ventures.

The inaugural tournament had been a minor financial boon for SLC, as the board attempts to recover from heavy debts incurred before the 2011 World Cup. Neither the sports ministry, nor Jayasekara specified what action the franchises might take if SLC did not acquiesce to their extension request.