After the Sri Lankan government intervened to remove the entire board on November 9, the ICC decided to suspend Sri Lanka cricket’s membership with immediate effect. The decision follows Sri Lanka’s dismal World Cup performance.
The ICC issued a statement announcing the suspension of Sri Lanka cricket’s membership with immediate effect on November 10. The decision comes a day after Sri Lanka’s World Cup 2023 campaign came to an end with a hammering at the hands of New Zealand. In the nine games they played in the 2023 World Cup, the 1996 World Cup champions won only two.
However, the problems confronting Sri Lankan cricket go beyond poor performance on the field. The Sri Lankan government fired the cricket board after it was suspected of rampant wrongdoing. Following a catastrophic 302-run defeat over India in the World Cup 2023, Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe fired the entire cricket board. Arjuna Ranatunga, the World Cup-winning captain in 1996, has been named head of the interim board, which includes three judges.
This would be followed by a motion passed unanimously by the Sri Lankan parliament on November 9 calling for the sacking of the country’s cricket regulatory body, with both the government and opposition parties backing it.
The ICC has now declared that it has suspended Sri Lanka’s membership with immediate effect for breaching its obligations as a member. The ICC will determine the terms of the suspension in due course, but it is possible that Sri Lanka may miss the big ICC events, beginning with the 2024 World Cup.
Sri Lanka Cricket suspended by ICC Board.
More here ⬇️https://t.co/3QcLinUPp0
— ICC (@ICC) November 10, 2023
“The International Cricket Council (ICC) Board has suspended Sri Lanka Cricket’s membership of the ICC with immediate effect.”
“The ICC Board met today and determined that Sri Lanka Cricket is in serious breach of its obligations as a Member, in particular, the requirement to manage its affairs autonomously and ensure that there is no government interference in the governance, regulation and/or administration of cricket in Sri Lanka.”
“The conditions of the suspension will be decided by the ICC Board in due course,” the ICC said.
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