Former cricket chief to sue ex-Sri Lankan minister

Sri Lanka's former cricket chief, Tilanga Sumathipala, has vowed to sue a former government minister for allegedly slandering him on a television show, reports SADA news agency.

Sumathipala has written to former senior minister Mangala Samaraweera for claiming on Independent Television Network that the former cricket chief engineered the defections that forced President Chandrika Kumaratunga to dissolve Parliament.

Samaraweera alleged that Sumathipala was part of a mafia that masterminded last week's defections to the main opposition United National Party.

Nine ruling party legislators switched sides, prompting Kumaratunga to dissolve Parliament ahead of a vote of confidence moved by the UNP she was tipped to lose. She has called fresh elections for December 5.

Since the government's fall, the state media has been accusing the defectors of switching allegiances for monetary gains.

Samaraweera in his television interview also accused Sumathipala of stealing $202 million from cricket board funds and accepting money from a Tamil politician linked to the separatist Tamil Tiger guerrillas.

Sumathipala has threatened Samaraweera that he would take legal action if he failed to pay damages within seven days.

Sumathipala's family are traditional supporters of Kumaratunga's People's Alliance. He fell out with the administration after he was axed as the country's cricket chief in March.

--Indo-Asian News Service

Mail Cricket Editor