COLOMBO, Jan 10: Sri Lanka’s legendary cricket captain, Arjuna Ranatunga, won a legal battle on Friday in his bid to head the country’s cricket administration.

The Supreme Court in Colombo upheld a petition by Ranatunga, a member of parliament, that a proposed sports law which debars politicians from holding office in sports bodies was a “violation of his fundamental rights”.

The state was ordered to pay Rs 50,000 (US$520) as legal costs to the former cricket captain who piloted Sri Lanka to their 1996 World Cup win.

Sports Minister Johnston Fernando had last February introduced the proposed law in parliament with the aim to de-politicise the country’s sports administration.

Ranatunga, however, saw the yet-to-be-passed law as a tool to debar him from becoming the president of the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka (BCCSL).—AFP