Uduwatuwage Janath Priya Thilanga Sumathipala MP (born 3 May 1964) (known as Thilanga Sumathipala) is a Sri Lankan politician who was the former deputy speaker of the

Parliament of Sri Lanka The Parliament of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකා පාර්ලිමේන්තුව ''Shri Lanka Parlimenthuwa'', Tamil: இலங்கை நாடாளுமன்றம் ''Ila� ...

since 2015 and former President of

Sri Lanka Cricket Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) is the governing body for cricket in Sri Lanka. It was first registered with the Sri Lankan Ministry of Sports as the Board of Cricket for Sri Lanka (BCCSL) on 30 June 1975 as a national sports body. The board was rename ...

(2016–2019). Previously he served as deputy minister of Skills Development and Vocational Training. He is a member of parliament representing the

Colombo District Colombo District ( si, කොළඹ දිස්ත්‍රික්කය ''kol̠am̆ba distrikkaya''; ta, கொழும்பு மாவட்டம் ''Koḻumpu Māvaṭṭam'') is one of the 25 districts of Sri Lanka, the second leve ...

. He served as a member of the

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

Provincial Council and was the

Sri Lanka Freedom Party The Sri Lanka Freedom Party ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂය, translit=Śrī Laṁkā Nidahas Pakṣaya; ta, இலங்கை சுதந்திரக் கட்சி, translit=Ilaṅkai Cutantirak Ka� ...

chief organiser for the

Borella Borella is the largest suburb in Colombo, Sri Lanka represented by divisional code 8. Demographic Borella is a multi-religious and multi-ethnic area. The major ethnic communities in Borella are Sinhalese and Tamils. There are also various other ...

Electorate in

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

District. He is also the chairman of the Thimbirigasyaya Divisional Secretariat Development Coordination Committee and the managing director of one of the largest private corporate groups of companies in Sri Lanka. He is a leading

business magnate A business magnate, also known as a tycoon, is a person who has achieved immense wealth through the ownership of multiple lines of enterprise. The term characteristically refers to a powerful entrepreneur or investor who controls, through per ...

s in Sri Lanka. He has been accused and is under investigation by the ICC's Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) for alleged charges of corruption.

Early life and education

Thilanga Sumathipala was born on 3 May 1964 in

. He received his education at

Nalanda College Colombo ''Āpadāna Sobhinī Panñā'' , motto_translation = Character Illumines Wisdom , established = , founder = Patrick de Silva Kularatne , type = National , grades = ...

and

London College of Communication The London College of Communication is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London. It specialises in media-related subjects including advertising, animation, film, graphic design, photography and sound arts. It has approximately ...

, UK. While at school Thilanga excelled in cricket and was the vice captain of the Nalanda College first XI team in 1982.

Career

Sumathipala chaired two telecommunication companies namely

Sri Lanka Telecom SLT-MOBITEL (formerly known as Sri Lanka Telecom, si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා ටෙලිකොම්, Śrī Laṃkā Ṭelikom, ta, ஸ்ரீலங்கா டெலிகொம்) is the national telecommunications services provide ...

and Mobitel (Pvt) Ltd from 2002 to 2004. He was the president of the

Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) is the governing body for cricket in Sri Lanka. It was first registered with the Sri Lankan Ministry of Sports as the Board of Cricket for Sri Lanka (BCCSL) on 30 June 1975 as a national sports body. The board was renamed ...

in 1997–1998, 2000–2001 and 2003–2004. Between 1998 and 2000 he was the director of the

International Cricket Council The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the world governing body of cricket. Headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, its members are 108 national associations, with 12 Full Members and 96 Associate Members. Founded in 1909 as the '' ...

and the president of the

Asian Cricket Council The Asian Cricket Council also known as ACC is a cricket organisation which was established in 1983, to promote and develop the sport of cricket in Asia. Subordinate to the International Cricket Council, the council is the continent's regional ...

in 1997–1998. He was also the chairman of the Asian Cricket Committee in 2000–2001.

Corruption Allegations

Sumathipala has multiple accusations of corruption against him, and is under investigation by the ICC's Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU), who presented a report claiming that Sumathipala made an alleged request for a bribe of US$100,000, in order to give the television contract to World Tel in 1997. The ICC's Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) stated the following in their report, ''“GP (Glyn Palmer) claimed that in 1997 the TV rights for Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) were sold to Mark Mascarenas (now deceased) and his company WorldTel Inc. GP claimed that a 100,000 USD bribe was paid to TS (Thilanga Sumathipala) for these rights,”.'' The report was signed by Alex Marshal, head of ICC's Anti-Corruption, who further stated that ''“A fax was also copied which appeared to be a request from Sumathipala to Palmer to contact Mascarenas and giving details of an account for Euro Comlink, for transactions. Bank statements provided by GP showed 3 further payments totalling 35,750 USD paid into the same account.”'' https://www.dailynews.lk/2018/08/01/sports/158492/cricket-legends-slam-sumathipala-match-fixing-allegations

References

* By Lakmal Welabada * * * By Panchamee Hewavisenti *
Thilanga Sumathipala on ‘HOT SEAT’
Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka) Video. {{DEFAULTSORT:Sumathipala, Thilanga 1964 births Alumni of Nalanda College, Colombo Deputy speakers and chairmen of committees of the Parliament of Sri Lanka Living people Members of the 14th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 15th Parliament of Sri Lanka Provincial councillors of Sri Lanka Prisoners and detainees of Sri Lanka Sinhalese businesspeople Sri Lankan Buddhists Sri Lankan philanthropists Sri Lankan politicians convicted of crimes Sri Lankan prisoners and detainees