ICC pays 46 per cent of fees due to Lankan cricketers

Colombo: The ICC has paid 46 per cent of the fees due to Sri Lanka`s cricketers for the 2011 World Cup after the country`s cash-strapped cricket board failed to pay their salaries.

Instead of routing it through Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), the payment of USD 2 million was made directly into the players` bank accounts on December 16. The Sri Lankan players were owed a total of USD 4.3 million (25 per cent of the country`s participation fee). The payment, though, was arranged with assistance from SLC, who provided the players` respective bank account details, a person with knowledge of the payments said. Tony Irish, the chief executive of the South African Players Association, said that arrangement to pay the players was negotiated between the Federation of International Cricketers` Association (FICA) and the Sri Lankan Players Association (SLCA). SLC ran into financial crisis after running up debts of USD 32.5 million to finance the building of two international stadiums in Hambantota and Pallekele, and to renovate the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, for the World Cup. PTI