ICC suspends Sri Lankan Cricket

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has suspended Sri Lankan Cricket (SLC) for failing to "manage its affairs autonomously". The world body said it's yet to decide the conditions of the suspension.

The move comes hours after the Sri Lankan parliament unanimously passed a resolution calling for the SLC's sacking. It was titled 'the removal of the corrupt SLC management'.

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

"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 statement continued.

"The conditions of the suspension will be decided by the ICC Board in due course," it added.

Earlier, the country's sports minister Roshan Ranasinghe had sacked the SLC management and appointed former captain Arjuna Ranatunga as head of an interim committee to govern the board. That decision was quashed by Sri Lanka's Court of Appeal, which also restored the officials pending further inquiry.

Ranasinghe has accused the SLC of widespread corruption, with his criticism only getting amplified in the wake of Sri Lanka's massive defeat to India in the 2023 Asia Cup final and their failure to seal a semi-final spot in the World Cup.

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Ranasinghe wrote to ICC about so-called "corrupt practices" by Sri Lankan cricket

Last month, Ranasinghe attempted to create a three-member panel to investigate the SLC, but it was thwarted because ICC considered it interference. Later, he wrote to ICC's full members asking for support.

"Sri Lanka Cricket has been besieged with complaints of player disciplinary issues, management corruption, financial misconduct and match-fixing allegations," Ranasinghe said in the letters, released to Sri Lankan media.

"I would like to emphasise that interim measures will only be taken to establish good governance principles," he added.

Sri Lanka have played all their league-stage matches in the World Cup, and the immediate effect of this massive announcement is uncertain.