ICC suspends Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) Board over excessive political interference: In a drastic step taken by the International Cricket Council (ICC), on Friday, it “suspended” the entire Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) for its failure to oblige and uphold the requirement for being a member of the ICC. The cricket board, though, termed “suspended” will continue to function.
The statement from the ICC came late on Friday after it recognised that the SLC has breached its duty of handling its affairs autonomously without any political interference.
“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 ICC said in a statement.
It further added that the conditions of the suspension will be decided in the due course of time as ICC further holds meetings with its board members.
ICC recently met online and is due to meet again on November 21 for its quarterly meeting. The meeting will be held in Ahmedabad only, where the World Cup 2023 Final is scheduled to be held.
While for the outside world, the ICC’s decision to suspend Sri Lanka Cricket appeared shocking, the SLC would have anticipated it coming. In fact, it was Sri Lanka Cricket who asked the apex cricket board to take such a harsh decision to further prevent excessive political interference.
Notably, Sri Lanka’s campaign in the ongoing ICC World Cup 2023 ended on Thursday suffering a five-wicket loss against New Zealand in their last league stage game. Moreover, there is no international cricket scheduled in the country until December.
Meanwhile, it is worth noting that Sri Lanka is slated to host the ICC Under-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup early in 2024. The tournament shall take place in January and February 2024.
It’s unlikely that the ICC will snatch the hosting rights of the Under-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup from Sri Lanka as the step to suspend the SLC has only been taken as a precautionary measure or perhaps as a warning. However, it remains to be seen what follows next along the same lines.
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