Sri Lanka Premier League to go ahead as planned

Colombo: The second edition of the Sri Lanka Premier League, the local version of the IPL, is to go ahead as scheduled, sports ministry announced here today.

The ministry spokesman Harsha B Abeykoon refuted local reports which suggested that sports minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage entertained doubts about the SLPL`s second edition taking place. "The Ministry of Sports wishes to confirm that Sri Lanka Cricket will conduct the Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL) on the scheduled dates, from August 10 to September 07, 2013," Abeykoon said. The ministry said the Franchises have asked for an extension of their period of lease from 7 years to 15 years, stating that the 7-year period is insufficient to recover their investment on the Franchise. "At no stage have the Franchises refused or stated their inability to participate in the forthcoming SLPL 2013. The request made by the Franchises has been referred to the Attorney-General`s Department for an opinion based on the existing contracts." "We have a problem this year. The franchise owners are pulling out," Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage was quoted as saying in the local Sunday press. The first edition of the SLPL in 2011 was aborted as the BCCI failed to release Indian players. The Indian players were absent even from last year`s inaugural edition. PTI