The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : `South Africa was obsessed with security'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Aug 19, 2006

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Sport - Cricket

`South Africa was obsessed with security'

Special Correspondent

Colombo: In a sensational disclosure to The Hindu, Shane Dullewe, Security Consultant for Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), has said the biggest threat to the South African team on its tour of Sri Lanka emerged from its own security officer who accompanied the side.

Mr. Dullewe, who heads the S.D. Security agency, revealed here on Friday that Faisal Nagl had misplaced four special passes issued by ICC's Anti Corruption Unit (ACU) to those who wanted to enter the players' dressing room during the second South Africa - Sri Lanka Test in Colombo. These passes were subsequently recovered by Sri Lankan officers.

"Just imagine what might have happened had these passes gone to the wrong hands. Somebody could have smuggled in bombs into the dressing rooms. I handed the passes over to the ACU officer for that series, Martin Hopkins," Mr. Dullewe said.

When contacted by The Hindu, ICC's anti-corruption officer for the ongoing series, Col Noor said the ACU had been informed about the incident. He added such a lapse was of a serious nature.

Mr. Dullewe said he felt "both disappointed and insulted," at the negative attitude of the South African team. "They seemed to be disheartened after losing both the Tests, they were without some of the key players and wanted to go home."

He said, the Sri Lankan president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, had taken personal interest to ensure that the South Africans were provided complete security. "An army commando unit was put at their disposal, they were offered two bullet proof vehicles, but they seemed to have made up their minds after the blast on August 14."

Mr. Dullewe said that the South African team that was staying in the Taj Samudra Hotel during the Test series had shifted to a nearby hotel for the tri-series when the Indians moved in. "This was because the South Africans felt India would be a targeted team. They seemed to be obsessed with security."

And like Colombo IGP, Chandra Fernando, he too did not see anyone from the Olive group company, recruited by the ICC to assess updated security arrangements in Sri Lanka. `They were simply not here," he asserts. "That report was written somewhere else without assessing the ground reality."

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