Cash-strapped Sri Lanka Cricket yesterday decided to allocate Rs. 40 million to purchase super luxury vehicles for eight high ranking officials including the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Sri Lanka Cricket.

The proposal has been passed by the Executive Committee of the SLC which met yesterday with SLC President Jayantha Dharmadasa at the chair.

Under the new move, SLC Chief Executive Officer Ashley de Silva to get Rs. 8 million worth Land Rover jeep. In addition to heads of department and five managers will also get brand new vehicles from the SLC. The total value of vehicles that will be purchased for managers will stand at Rs. 21 million.

The main governing body of cricket in Sri lanka, the SLC, presently owes Rs. 1400 million to commercial banks and to International Cricket Council (ICC). As of March 2014, the SLC was running at a loss of Rs. 314 million.

No one, who was present at the Executive Committee meeting yesterday, raised any question over the necessity   to allocate a colossal amount of money to purchase brand new vehicles for officials working at the SLC. At one point, the SLC was running into bankruptcy and did not even have money to pay salaries. Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage had to intervene and negotiate for a loan to rescue the country’s cricket administration from possible bankruptcy.

At the Executive Committee meeting yesterday, SLC President Jayantha Dharmadaa withdrew the proposal to curtail certain powers of SLC Secretary Nishantha Ranatunga. The move came after the two officials arrived at an agreement to work together until the end of the Cricket World Cup in 2015.

The next annual general meeting of the SLC is to be held in March, 2015.