In a major turn of events, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has suspended Sri Lanka Cricket's membership with immediate effect for excessive political interference.
"International Cricket Council Board has suspended Sri Lanka Cricket's membership of the ICC with immediate effect," ICC said 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," the statement added.
"The conditions of the suspension will be decided by the ICC Board in due course," the statement further read.
Earlier, the Sri Lankan government had fired the SLC after Islanders' poor show in the ongoing World Cup. Sri Lankan team went through a lot of turbulence during the World Cup as their regular captain Dasun Shanaka got ruled out in the middle of the tournament. Stand-in skipper Kusal Mendis also failed to keep Sri Lanka and good stead as they suffered seven of the nine matches they played in the World Cup 2023. Their latest failure came in the World Cup match against New Zealand on November 9, which they lost by five wickets to finish their campaign on a patchy note.
SLC crisis deepened after the court of appeal reinstated the board of management, despite a joint government and opposition resolution in parliament demanding their resignation. The government, which is divided over the sports minister's decision to sack the board, has proposed a new constitution for SLC with a new voting structure for appointing office bearers.
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