Mahindananda Aluthgamage (born 21 November 1964) was a Sri Lankan politician and the Minister of Sports. He has also served as Deputy Minister of Power and Energy. He was elected as a Member of Parliament representing the

Kandy Electoral District Kandy (Mahanuwara) electoral district is one of the 22 multi-member electoral districts of Sri Lanka created by the 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka. The district is conterminous with the administrative district of Kandy in the Central province. ...

. He was educated at Gangasiripura Vidyalaya

Gampola Gampola (, ) is a town located in Kandy District, in Sri Lanka's Central Province, Sri Lanka, Central Province. The town is governed by an Urban Council. Gampola was made the capital of the island by King Buwanekabahu IV, who ruled for four year ...

and

Royal College Colombo Royal College, Colombo also known as; Royal Colombo, Colombo Royal College or Colombo Royal) is a boys' school located in Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Started by Joseph Marsh in 1835, it was established as the Colombo Academy by Si ...

. He lost his position as a minister in 2015 when President Mahinda Rajapaksha was defeated in the 2015 presidential election. He is well known for his ability to speak Sinhala,

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

and English fluently and gained popularity among the Tamil community for his political rallies in Northern Province. On 29 May 2025, Aluthgamage was convicted of corruption by the Colombo High Court and was sentenced to twenty years of rigorous imprisonment.

Career

He entered mainstream politics in 1990 at the age of 25. He served as a people's representative in the Sri Lankan Parliament in 2000, 2001, 2004, 2010 and 2020. He served as the minister of sports from 2010 to 2015. He was sworn in as the state minister of Power and Energy on 27 November 2019. In February 2020, his position was later changed and modified as state minister of Renewable Energy and Power. In June 2020, he was appointed as the spokesperson for the Sri Lankan government. In June 2020, he completed his 30 years of politics. Aluthgamage lost his parliamentary seat in

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

. Following the electoral defeat, he announced his retirement from politics.

Controversies

In 2018, he was accused of mishandling the funds during his tenure as sports minister from 2010 to 2015 and was arrested regarding the funds spent on imported cricket and other sports equipments.

Fixing allegations

On 18 June 2020, in an interview with

News First NewsFirst or News 1st is a Sri Lankan news organization owned by thCapital Maharaja Organization Ltd News 1st primarily broadcasts news, live on three TV channels ( Sirasa TV, Shakthi TV, TV 1, five radio channels (Sirasa FM, Yes FM, Shakthi FM, ...

he made a shocking allegation that during his tenure as sports minister the 2011 World Cup final featuring

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

was fixed and further claimed that the 2011 World Cup trophy was sold to India without specifying any evidence. He didn't reveal the details of the cricketers supposedly involved and insisted that he will not disclose the details for the sake of the country with absolute responsibility. His comments drew widespread criticism and global media attention among the cricket fraternity. Former Sri Lankan cricketers

Mahela Jayawardene Denagamage Praboth Mahela de Silva Jayawardene (; born 27 May 1977) is a Sri Lankan former professional cricketer and captain of the Sri Lanka national cricket team, Sri Lankan national cricket team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest ...

and

Kumar Sangakkara Kumar Chokshanada Sangakkara (; born 27 October 1977) is a Sri Lankan former professional cricketer who represented Sri Lanka from 2000 to 2015. A former captain in all formats. He was born in Matale, Central Province. In first-class cricke ...

who were part of the World Cup final denied the allegations and claimed that the minister was seeking for

publicity stunt In marketing, a publicity stunt is a planned event designed to attract the public's attention to the event's organizers or their cause. Publicity stunts can be professionally organized, or set up by amateurs. Such events are frequently utiliz ...

and political advantage ahead of the upcoming parliamentary election. The

Ministry of Sports A ministry of sports or ministry of youth and sports is a kind of government Ministry (government department), ministry found in certain countries with responsibility for the regulation of sports, particularly those participated in by young peopl ...

also launched an investigation to probe the allegations made by Mahindananda. Ex Sri Lanka cricket team captain

Arjuna Ranatunga Deshamanya Arjuna Ranatunga (; ; born 1 December 1963), is a Sri Lankan politician and former cricketer, who was the 1996 Cricket World Cup winning captain for Sri Lanka, and scored the winning boundary in the final. He is regarded as the pion ...

also made a serious allegation that the 2011 Cricket World Cup Final match between India and Sri Lanka had been fixed. Both Aluthgamage and Ranatunga demanded a probe into the events at the final match. The

International Cricket Council The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the global Sports governing body, governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from Australia, England, and South Africa. In 1965, the body wa ...

stated that it will investigate him based on his match-fixing allegations under ICC anti-corruption unit. On 25 June 2020, however he claimed that his allegations were only suspicion and demanded for an independent investigation regarding the fixing claims. Although Sri Lankan Police conducted a probe, they later dropped it citing lack of evidence. Later

rubbished the

match fixing In organized sports, match fixing (also known as game fixing, race fixing, throwing, rigging, hippodroming, or more generally sports fixing) is the act of playing or officiating a contest with the intention of achieving a predetermined result, v ...

claims made by Ranatunga and Aluthgamage.

Criminal conviction

On 29 May 2025, Aluthgamage was convicted by the Permanent High Court Trial-at-Bar in

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

and sentenced to twenty years of rigorous imprisonment. The conviction relates to a charge filed in 2019 by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC), accusing him of causing a loss of over

Rs. Rupee (, ) is the common name for the currencies of India, Mauritius, Nepal, Pakistan, Seychelles, and Sri Lanka, and of former currencies of Afghanistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates (as the Gulf rupee), British East Afri ...

53 million to the government through the irregular procurement of sports equipment for distribution during the

2015 Sri Lankan presidential election Presidential elections were held in Sri Lanka on 8 January 2015. The elections took place two years ahead of schedule. Incumbent President of Sri Lanka, President Mahinda Rajapaksa was the ruling United People's Freedom Alliance's candidate, seek ...

References

External links

Biographies of Member of Parliament
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aluthgamage, Mahindananda 1964 births Living people Provincial councillors of Sri Lanka Sports ministers of Sri Lanka United People's Freedom Alliance politicians Alumni of Royal College, Colombo Members of the 11th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 12th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 13th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 14th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 15th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 16th Parliament of Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna politicians Politicians from Kandy 2011 Cricket World Cup Sri Lankan prisoners and detainees