ICC suspends Sri Lanka Cricket with immediate effect

The International Cricket Council Board has suspended Sri Lanka Cricket’s membership of the ICC with immediate effect.

In a statement released on Friday night, the ICC said that the SLC had breached its obligations as a member, in particular the requirement to manage its affairs autonomously and without government interference.

In its statement, the ICC said: “The conditions of the suspension will be decided by the ICC Board in due course.”

The ICC Board is set to meet on November 21, after which the future course of action is expected to be clearer.

Sri Lanka is scheduled to host the ICC Under-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup across January and February 2024.

The Sri Lanka men’s team have had a forgettable time at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023, winning just two of their nine matches and finishing with four points. They sit at No.8 in the points table with three more matches to be played in the league phase.

Sky Sports News reports that on Monday, Sri Lanka’s sports minister reportedly sacked the entire cricket board and installed an interim committee led by World Cup winner Arjuna Ranatunga. However, it also contained two sons of politicians.

On Tuesday, this interim committee was struck down by the courts with the old board reinstated.

Under Sri Lanka’s own sports law, the government has the power to dissolve the governing body of any sport. However, ICC has taken a dim view on this in the past, stretching back to 2014 when Sri Lanka’s government last appointed a committee, Sky Sports News reported.

On Wednesday, Sri Lanka Cricket released a statement denying government accusations that they had mishandled preparations for the Under-19 Cricket World Cup, due to take place in January 2024. On Thursday, they released a further statement denying accusations of transferring $2 million from its accounts to third party accounts.