Last December, SLC was to have signed a 30-year lease agreement with the authorities of the Dambulla temple, to which the land belonged. But for some reasons, the agreement failed to materialise with the temple authorities disputing the annual payment.

However on June 12, Lokuge along with SLC officials went to Dambulla to meet the high priest of the temple, Venerable Inamaluwe Sri Sumangala Thero and an agreement was finally decided. K Mathivanan, SLC's secretary, said the two parties giving SLC full access to the stadium from June 13 signed an initial draft.

"The final legal documents will be signed within a couple of weeks after the commission for Buddha Sasana has decided on the valuation of the land and arrived at a figure which SLC will have to pay the temple authorities," said Mathivanan. "This figure will be reviewed every five years and SLC will have to pay the lease on current land values."

The board was reluctant to pump in any money to uplift or make any improvements to the stadium because there was no proper agreement binding the two parties in the past.