Don't mix sports and politics, says Arjuna Ranatunga

BANGALORE: Former Sri Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga said on Friday that sport and politics must remain separate and those individuals attempting to mix the two for "political gain" should resist from doing so.
The World Cup winner indirectly took a dig at Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa, who on Thursday refused to allow Chennai to host the Asian Athletics Championships in July because of the participation of Sri Lanka which has been accused of war crimes.
"Sports and politics must be kept apart always," he said on the sidelines of a Sri Lankan Tourism promotion event here. "People trying to capitalize on the issue for political gain should not do so," he said.
The Sri Lankan member of Parliament said he would decide shortly on contesting elections to the post of Sri Lanka Cricket president. "I will finalize my decision when I get back home. I need time to decide and I need to get a clear assurance that there will be no political interference. Otherwise I won't," he said.
"If someone comes into politics to do the right thing, there should be no objection to that. Any person has the opportunity to come to parliament. What we need to do is have plans to develop sports in our country. But we need to keep politics and sports away."
Switching to the game, Ranatunga lauded Indian maestro Sachin Tendulkar for taking steps to prolong his Test career. "We need more players like Tendulkar for Test cricket to survive. He has done the right thing by retiring from ODIs. Fans always want him to play like a 20-year-old but he isn't that old anymore. Compared to the current Indian batsmen, he can still be a key component in the Test team."