Sri Lanka Cricket has come under scrutiny from internal sources, revealing that the Cricket Institute, previously known for maintaining a group of sports journalists with monthly salaries, has extended press passes for this year’s Asia Cup to individuals who lack knowledge of the game.
The list of journalists benefiting from monthly salaries through Sri Lanka Cricket has now surfaced. So far, all individuals on this payroll were known for their cricket coverage.
A forensic audit conducted by the Auditor General unveiled that four journalists selected to cover the previous Twenty20 World Cup received payments exceeding 50 lakhs from the cricket body.
129 Media ID cards were issued to local journalists by the Cricket Institute for covering this year’s Asia Cup.
The cricket body’s decision to include social media pagers among these 129 individuals, many of whom do not have a history of covering sports, has raised questions regarding the selection criteria for media accreditation.
