Sri Lanka - WorldTel contract to be terminated (20 Dec 1997)

Saturday 20, December 1997

Sri Lanka - WorldTel contract to be terminated

by SA'ADI THAWFEEQ

The Sri Lanka Cricket Board's membership decided at a Special General Meeting on Thursday, to terminate the contract with television company WorldTel.

"We will seek legal advice first, before ending the agreement,'' said Cricket Board president Upali Dharmadasa, who chaired the meeting held at the Cricket Board headquarters.

The membership was told of the sequence of events which led to the signing of the agreement. The bribery allegations were also discussed. The bribery issue is being handled separately by the Bribery department.

WorldTel had an agreement with the Sri Lanka Cricket Board for three years from June this year. However, following the allegations of bribery over the deal and the intense publicity it received at home and abroad, the Cricket Board's membership requested for a Special General Meeting as they had not been aprised of such a deal before it was signed.

However, the much anticipated turn of events never took place at Thursday's conference.

The agreement with WorldTel we understand is an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) signed by the Cricket Board for US$ 5.5 million for three years. It was signed while the Cricket Board had a contract going with another television company CSI. The contract with CSI, we understand was terminated in July this year.

Meanwhile, we learn that WorldTel, in keeping with their already existing agreement, has written to the Cricket Board seeking details for the coverage of the tour here by Zimbabwe later this month.

It is also reliably learnt the Cricket Board, will call for fresh tenders to tie up future television coverage in Sri Lanka.

Source :: Daily News (https://www.lanka.net)