Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) was on Friday suspended by the International Cricket Council (ICC) due to political interference in what is a massive blow for the former world champions. The development comes a day after the country’s parliament called for the “corrupt board” , the richest sporting body in the cash-strapped island nation, to resign. “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,” read an official release from the ICC.
The ICC is set to meet on 21 November after which SLC’s fate will be made clearer. Sri Lanka had been awarded the hosting rights for the U-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup in the months of January and February of 2024 in doubt. The ICC’s latest decision however, has cast a shadow over the tournament, which might now be moved elsewhere if ICC doesn’t lift its suspension. Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe had sacked the entire board following Sri Lanka’s humiliating 302-run loss against India in Mumbai in the ongoing ICC World Cup, and had named an interim committee with 1996 World Cup-winning captain Arjuna Ranatunga as its head. Read | Sri Lanka’s World Cup 2023 campaign ends with a whimper Ranasinghe had accused the board of being “besieged with complaints of player disciplinary issues, management corruption, financial misconduct and match-fixing allegations” as the reason behind his abrupt decision. The decision, however, was later overturned by Sri Lanka’s Court of Appeal , which allowed the Shammi Silva-led board to carry on with its functioning. Sri Lanka have had a forgettable World Cup campaign, where they lost seven out of nine matches including the hammering against the hosts at the Wankhede Stadium where they were shot out for just 55. It isn’t the only the time this year that they’ve been defeated by such a one-sided margin or have been bowled out for such a low score. They had suffered a record 317-run thrashing, also against India, in January this year and had been bowled out for 50 in the Asia Cup final against the same team. Sri Lanka would go on to suffer back-to-back defeats against Bangladesh and New Zealand respectively, and are current in danger of missing out on the 2025 Champions Trophy.