Sri Lanka Allowed To Play International Cricket Despite Suspension

On Tuesday, November 21, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced that the Sri Lanka National Cricket Team will be allowed to compete at the international level despite the recent suspension of the SLC.

Recently, the governing body suspended the membership of the SLC, and the decision was made on charges of government interference in the board.

This came after there was chaos in the SLC following the disastrous World Cup 2023 campaign of the Lankan Lions. Sri Lanka National Cricket Team performed poorly in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 and out of the 9 matches in the league stage, they only managed to win 2.

Following the poor performance of the team, the decision was made to sack the entire SLC board, and Arjuna Ranatunga was appointed as the head of a seven-member interim committee to govern the SLC.

Later, the Court of Appeal restored the SLC management headed by Shammi Silva, but again after a few days, the Sri Lankan parliament unanimously passed a resolution, calling for the sacking of the SLC, with both the ruling and opposition parties supporting it.

Sri Lanka can continue to compete internationally – ICC

On Tuesday, the ICC, after a board meeting, announced that the Sri Lanka National Cricket Team can continue to play in both bilateral cricket and ICC events despite the suspension.

However, the funding of Sri Lanka Cricket will be controlled by the International Cricket Council, hence, the next year’s Under-19 Cricket World Cup has been shifted to South Africa from Sri Lanka.

“The International Cricket Council (ICC) Board met today and confirmed the terms of the suspension of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC).

“After hearing representation from SLC, the ICC Board decided that Sri Lanka can continue to compete internationally both in bilateral cricket and ICC events after being suspended recently for breaching its obligations as a Member in particular the requirement to manage its affairs autonomously and without government interference,” the ICC said in an official media release.

“However, funding to SLC will be controlled by the ICC and the ICC Board confirmed Sri Lanka will no longer host the ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup 2024, which will now be held in South Africa,” the ICC added.