Sri Lanka Sports Minister Says ICC Suspension of Cricket Board Illegal
Sri Lanka's Angelo Mathews celebrates the wicket of New Zealand's Daryl Mitchell during their ICC Men's Cricket World Cup in Bengaluru, India, Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi).
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka’s sports minister said Saturday that the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) suspension of the nation’s cricket board over political interference was illegal and that he will seek to reverse it.
Minister Roshan Ranasinghe told reporters that if he can’t resolve the issue through the ICC’s conflict resolution arm, he will go to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland.
Ranasinghe said the ICC’s suspension was against its own rules and that the organization should have first sought the approval of the other members.
The ICC suspended Sri Lanka Cricket on Friday citing political interference in its administration.
Earlier this week, the Ministry of Sport sacked the national board over the team’s poor performance at the Cricket World Cup in India. The ministry also accused the board of corruption.
A court decision reversed the ministry’s verdict, but it was still grounds for the ICC to take action.
Sri Lanka are ninth in the World Cup standings. They still need the remaining games to go in their favour to qualify for the 2025 Champions Trophy in Pakistan.
Sri Lanka are scheduled to host the Under-19 men’s World Cup starting in January.
Sri Lanka Cricket chief Shammi Silva told reporters that he will travel to Dubai to meet with ICC officials next week and before he could begin negotiations would need assurances from the government that there will be no political interference.
He rejected corruption allegations.