The International Cricket Council (ICC) has suspended Sri Lanka Cricket with immediate effect, the apex body of the sport announced on Friday. The council reasoned that there has been extensive government interference within the administration. This comes as another major setback for Sri Lanka following a disappointing 2023 World Cup campaign.
The statement issued by the ICC stated that Sri Lanka has been found to breach the obligations by allowing the government to interfere in its administration.
"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's statement read.
The board members of the ICC will again meet on November 21 and announce further actions on the matter. It is worth noting that the island country is also scheduled to stage the ICC Under-19 Men's Cricket World Cup across January and February 2024.
Sri Lanka managed only 2 wins out of 9 games in 2023 World Cup
Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan men's team had a forgettable World Cup 2023 campaign, winning only two matches out of nine. The team lost their first three matches before beating the Netherlands for their first victory. With regular captain Dasun Shanaka ruled out of the tournament midway due to injury, Kusal Mendis stepped up in the role.
Their highlight of the campaign was arguably beating defending champions England convincingly. However, they lost to Afghanistan and finished their campaign with defeats to Bangladesh and New Zealand.
