New Sports Minister Namal Rajapaksa declared that he will take care of “all sports in the country” and not just cricket.
He made the remarks in reply to a question posed on whether he intends to put the country’s cricket team back on track after its slump in the international rankings.
“There is a cricket administration (Sri Lanka Cricket) in place to handle cricket matters. I am the Sports Minister, the Minister of all sports and not just cricket,” said Minister Rajapaksa, a former Sri Lanka rugby prop forward.
He however noted the progress of cricket in the country and said he will be seeking the consultancy services of retired players to turn things around while his priority will be to restructure the entire sports set-up in the country by implementing a new national agenda.
“We have to overhaul the entire set-up and consult the right people and get the right advice to take sports to the next level,” said Rajapaksa.
He becomes the 18th Sports Minister of Sri Lanka and succeeds Dullas Alahapperuma.
Meanwhile another former sportsman, 47 year old Thenuka Vidanagamage from the Badulla district was sworn in as a non-cabinet State Minister whose job it will be to take care of school sports and rural infrastructure development.