Sri Lanka sports minister revokes sacking of cricket board over corruption allegations

The Sri Lanka men`s team have had a forgettable time at the ICC Men`s Cricket World Cup 2023 (Pic: AFP)

Sri Lanka's sports minister revoked the sacking of the country's cricket board over allegations of corruption, in an effort to end its suspension by the International Cricket Council, AFP reported on Tuesday.

"I signed a gazette to revoke the decision appointing an interim committee for Sri Lanka Cricket, aiming to lift our ICC suspension," Harin Fernando said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Last month, the International Cricket Council (ICC) suspended Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) due to government interference. The Sri Lanka government had sacked the SLC following the team's disastrous show at the World Cup, where it lost seven of the nine games. SLC was reinstated by the court of appeal, thus further deepening the crisis in the country's cricket governing body.

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

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"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 statement further read.

The government, which wassplit over the minister's decision to sack the SLC board of management, had come out with a report, recommending a brand new constitution for the governing body with a new voting structure to appoint office bearers.

Earlier in November, Sri Lanka Cricket secretary Mohan de Silva had resigned in the wake of the national team's disappointing run in the ODI World Cup in India. De Silva's resignation came after the sports minister Roshan Ranasinghe's call for the mass resignation of the SLC administration following the team's poor show. Ranasinghe, in a statement, blamed the selection committee and the SLC administration for the debacle.

The SLC administration led by Shammi Silva had called for a probe report from the team management over the Wankhede hammering which saw the side being bundled out for 55. Silva was elected uncontested as chair, his third successive term at SLC. His current term expires only in 2025.