His statement followed Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa's letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asking for the exclusion of Sri Lankan players from the Indian Premeir League (IPL) matches to be staged in Chennai.

"We are concerned about mixing of politics and sports: now that is something very unfortunate. It should not happen in our region. Our concern is with regard to Sri Lankans visiting India including sportspersons and their security. Our cricketers are precious and their security is most important," Kariyawasam told news channel CNN-IBN.