Reasons for ICC Suspending the Sri Lanka Cricket Board

What impact will the suspension have on Sri Lankan cricket?

(Cricket News)The International Cricket Council (ICC) has suspended Sri Lanka Cricket’s (SLC) membership with immediate effect due to government interference, the sport’s governing body announced on Friday. In response to the nation’s dismal World Cup performance, the Ministry of Sport in Sri Lanka fired the SLC board and replaced it with an interim committee; however, the Court of Appeal in Sri Lanka stayed the firing.

According to a statement, “the ICC Board met today and determined that Sri Lanka Cricket is in serious breach of its obligations as a Member,” specifically the need to manage its affairs independently and guarantee that the government does not interfere with the governance, regulation, or administration of cricket in Sri Lanka.

Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe called SLC “traitorous and corrupt” in a statement to parliament on November 3, saying board members should resign. Following the resignation of SLC secretary Mohan de Silva and the sacking of the board, Ranasinghe replaced them with an interim committee chaired by World Cup-winning former captain Arjuna Ranatunga. Only two of Sri Lanka’s nine World Cup games have been won, and the country is currently ranked ninth in the 10-team standings. Reuters has contacted SLC for comment.

The matter was also discussed in Sri Lanka’s parliament earlier this week. However, former SLC President Shammi Silva petitioned the court against the dismissal and was granted a two-week stay order, with a full hearing to follow.

SLC also released a statement regarding allegations made by Ranasinghe regarding the transfer of two million USD from its accounts, stating that they were used for operational expenses only and not transferred out of their accounts. “SLC receives funds and sponsorship income in USD, which are intentionally kept in our USD accounts to leverage exchange rate fluctuations,” the statement said.

“Since SLC does not generate a substantial amount of revenue in local currency, it has long been the practice of transferring funds from its USD account to its local currency (LKR) accounts in order to fulfill these expenses.”