ICC suspends SLC for government interference

Representation Pic

The International Cricket Council on Friday suspended its full-member Sri Lanka after observing government interference in the national board following a tumultuous week. The Sri Lankan parliament on Thursday unanimously passed a resolution, calling for the sacking of the country's cricket governing body, with both the ruling and opposition parties supporting it.

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"The International Cricket Council (ICC) Board has suspended Sri Lanka Cricket's membership of the ICC with immediate effect," said the ICC in a statement. "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.

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"The conditions of the suspension will be decided by the ICC Board in due course," the statement added. The resolution passed by Sri Lankan parliament amounted to government interference and that was enough ground for the ICC Board to suspend Sri Lanka's membership. A sequence of events unfolded in Sri Lankan cricket following the team's disappointing run in the ongoing World Cup in India. Sri Lanka could manage only two wins from nine games and are out of the semi-finals race.

The main opposition party leader Sajith Premadasa moved the resolution titled ‘the removal of the corrupt SLC (Sri Lanka Cricket) management' which was seconded by the senior government minister Nimal Siripala de Silva. The parliament's approval came two days after the Court of Appeal restored the SLC management headed by Shammi Silva on Tuesday.

Chief selector blames external conspiracy

Chief Selector Pramodaya Wickramasinghe on Friday alleged that Sri Lanka's disastrous show at the ongoing ODI World Cup was a result "of a conspiracy from outside". The Sri Lankan team returned home early on Friday morning from India after their five-wicket loss in the last group stage match against New Zealand in Bangalore. Pressed for reasons for the poor performance, Wickramasingha, a member of the World Cup-winning 1996 team, said: "give me two days to disclose everything about it. This was the result of a conspiracy from outside. "It is very sad, I am taking responsibility," he told reporters at the airport.

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