ICC Board suspends Sri Lanka Cricket with immediate effect for breaching “obligations as a member”

Dubai [UAE]: The International Cricket Council (ICC) Board on Friday suspended Sri Lanka Cricket’s membership with ICC with immediate effect as they have breached their obligations as a member.

ICC released a statement to announce the suspension of Sri Lanka’s cricket membership after the ICC Board met earlier in the day. The reason for suspending Sri Lanka’s membership has been due to its failure to meet the obligation of managing its affairs autonomously while ensuring there is no government involvement.

“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,” ICC said in a statement.

There has been a major shift in Sri Lanka’s cricket body since their humiliating defeat to India in the ongoing World Cup. Sri Lanka were restricted to a score of 55 while chasing a target of 358 at the Wankhede Stadium.

Sri Lanka Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe suspended the whole Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) board, the Sri Lanka-based Daily Mirror reported on Monday. Ranasinghe also appointed an Interim Committee for Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), chaired by World Cup-winning captain Arjuna Ranatunga.

Ranasinghe appointed Arjuna Ranatunga, Sri Lanka’s World Cup-winning captain in 1996, to oversee a new interim board. A retired Supreme Court judge and a former board president were among the seven members of the newly constituted body.

Several Hours after Sri Lanka Sports Minister Roshan Ranasingha established an interim committee led by 1996 World Cup-winning captain Arjuna Ranatunga to take control of SLC on Monday, the Court of Appeal on Tuesday issued an interim order suspending the operation of the Gazette appointing in respect of cricket governing body’s Interim Committee appointed by the Sports Minister, Daily Mirror Online reported.