ICC suspends Sri Lanka Cricket membership over 'govt interference'

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has suspended Sri Lanka Cricket’s membership of the ICC with immediate effect, citing interference in the governance of the sport by the country's government.

The ICC board met on Friday 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, the ICC announced in a statement on Friday.

The Sri Lankan Parliament had unanimously passed a joint proposal to remove the office-bearers of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), the sport's governing body in the country, which the lawmakers claimed to be "corrupt".

In a rare show of unity, both the government and the Opposition joined hands to pass the motion titled ‘Removal of corrupt office-bearers including President from SLC’ without a vote