Dambulla Stadium Stripped

SLC says seats will be replaced

By Dinouk Colombage

The Rangiri Dambulla International Cricket Stadium had been stripped of 1200 seats to be used at the Kettarama Stadium for the recent cricket World Cup.

Residents in Dambulla told The Sunday Leader that the stadium seats had been removed prior to the World Cup. When asked where these seats had been taken, the residents responded that they had been told the seats would refurbish a stadium which was being used for the World Cup in Colombo.
Chairman of Sri Lanka Cricket interim committee, Upali Dharmadasa, confirmed that 1200 seats had been removed from the Rangiri Dambulla International stadium. He added that this was done as the original seats which had been ordered from a foreign supplier had not arrived in time for the tournament.
‘To avoid any shortfalls we decided to take the seats from Dambulla and install them in the grand stand of the Kettarama stadium,’ he said. The seats which had been ordered previously have only now arrived at the Colombo port, according to Dharmadasa. He stated that they will be cleared in ten to twelve days after which they will be fitted at the Dambulla Stadium.
The Dambulla stadium was built in 2001 and has the capacity to host 30,000 spectators. Situated in the dry zone, Sri Lanka Cricket looked to the grounds as being able to host matches throughout the year.
However, in recent series the Dambulla stadium has fallen out of favour hosting fewer and fewer matches. The upcoming tour by Australia will not see any matches played in Dambulla. The World Cup, which was co-hosted by Sri Lanka at the beginning of the year, overlooked Dambulla for two newly constructed stadiums in Hambantota and Pallekele. Many cricket supporters were left scratching their heads at this omission.
Locals in Dambulla explained that when they enquired from Sri Lanka Cricket as to why no matches were being hosted in Dambulla, they had been told that the Board and the Dambulla temple could not come to an agreement over the advertising. Both Sri Lanka Cricket and the Golden Temple denied that this was the case.