Sri Lanka Cricket has been suspended from the ICC with immediate effect.

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A statement from the ICC says:

“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 prohibits government interference in the regulation or administration of cricket in a country, with Zimbabwe banned in 2019 for similar reasons. Sri Lanka’s recent suspension comes after a series of incidents following the poor performance in the 2023 World Cup, where the side won two of their nine games.

While the conditions of the suspension have not been announced yet, there are question marks over the 2024 under-19 World Cup, which is scheduled to be held in Sri Lanka in January. Beyond that, Sri Lanka have two mooted men’s series against Zimbabwe and Afghanistan early next year, while Sri Lanka Women next play in March.

What were the recent events that led to Sri Lanka’s ban from ICC?

The string of losses, including a defeat by over 300 runs to India, prompted the Sri Lanka Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe to sack the entire SLC board last week under the authority granted to him by the Sports Law No.25 of 1973. He formed an interim committee in their place, led by former Sri Lanka skipper Arjuna Ranatunga.

The original office-bearers were reinstated to the board a day later after Shammi Silva, the President of the SLC, went to the Court of Appeals. A 14-day stay order was issued, which prevented the interim committee from taking effect and carrying out their functions.

By this time, the President of the country, Ranil Wickremesinghe, seemingly unaware of the decision taken by the Sports Ministry, discussed having a four-member committee to investigate the SLC. The matter was discussed and debated among the cabinet of ministers and even in the parliament session at the start of the week.

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Ranasinghe later claimed that the President had urged him to withdraw his seven-member interim committee, while the new four-member team looked into the SLC. Ali Sabry, the country’s Foreign Minister, was put in charge of this committee.

“The cabinet has resolved to appoint a special sub-committee with the mandate to examine the current situation and work in collaboration with relevant stakeholders, including input from esteemed former cricketers,” a statement from the president’s media office said. “The primary objective of this sub-committee is to recommend immediate, viable measures to resolve the outstanding issues in Sri Lanka Cricket.”

Yesterday (November 9) a resolution was passed in the Sri Lankan parliament calling for “the removal of the corrupt officials including Chairman from Sri Lanka Cricket Board”.

According to an email posted to the Sri Lanka Cricket website, the ICC will continue to recognise Silva as “the democratically elected office bearer” and he will be entitled to attend the next ICC meeting in his capacity as ICC director. According to reporting on ESPNcricinfo, it was Silva who requested that the ICC suspend Sri Lanka Cricket.

The SLC previously had an interim committee for a year from 2014, but the ICC did not suspend the board then, only freezing the funds they were due until a fresh board was elected.

It should be noted that the ICC’s ban on government interference is not applied uniformly. In Sri Lanka’s case, the Sports Ministry has to approve every player picked by the selectors before every tour, with every such release signed off by the Sports Minister. Though the law has been in place since 1973, the ICC took no issue regarding it. More seriously, the Taliban, in Afghanistan, have barred women from playing cricket in the country, but again, the ICC have not seen fit to take action.

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