ICC deputy on fact finding mission to Colombo
Imran Khwaja, the Deputy Chair of the International Cricket Council (ICC), will arrive in Colombo this week on a two-day fact finding mission on alleged political interference in cricket administration.
Sources said he is expected here on Tuesday and will hold talks with government officials, including the Minister of Sports, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) officials and other stakeholders to understand the situation.
Following repeated complaints from SLC over political interference, the ICC reportedly appointed a threemember committee headed by Jay Shah, the Secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India. The others on the committee are Khwaja and Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) President Nazmul Hassan.
Following these appointments, Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe wrote to ICC Chairman Grey Barclay, requesting a meeting to discuss the issues surrounding the SLC, the country’s richest sports body.
Under the ICC's rules, member boards are required to operate independently of government interference, with the ultimate goal of protecting the integrity of the game. Like most international sports bodies, ICC requires complete independence of its member associations while respecting domestic laws. Sri Lanka is the only country that requires sports associations to get their teams signed off by the Sports Minister before they leave for any international sports event.
SLC and Sports Ministry have been at loggerheads ever since Sri Lanka shifted the Asia Cup to Dubai (while retaining hosting rights) last year. The World Cup winning skipper Arjuna Ranatunga, who chairs the advisory body, National Sports Council (NSC), publicly questioned SLC’s ‘lavish expenditure’ on sending busloads of Executive Committee members to the Asia Cup and World Cup last year.
After Sri Lanka made a first-round exit at the World Cup a few months after lifting the Asia Cup, the Sports Minister appointed a committee to inquire into alleged incidents that occurred during the ICC T20 World Cup 2022. The committee made a number of recommendations including the suspension of SLC’s registration and a complete audit.
While the audit report is being finalised by the National Audit
Office (NAO), SLC challenged the report in court.
Last year, Minister Ranasinghe also introduced several new regulations introducing term limits and age limits, compromising the autonomy and independence of national sports bodies, including SLC. No one over the age of 70 is now eligible to contest elections. Also ruled out are those who have completed four two-year terms in office, those who have been found guilty of corruption and financial irregularities, those with dual citizenship, Sports Ministry officials, and those who failed to declare their assets and liabilities for three years before the nominations.
These changes came into effect on December 14, 2022, and see many current officials being barred from contesting at elections next year due to the term and age limits.
SLC challenged this in the Court of
Appeal and managed to obtain an interim order preventing the Sports Minister, Sports Ministry Secretary, and Director General of the Sports Ministry from implementing the impugned regulations until the final determination of this petition. The Court fixed the petition for argument on June 22.
In the meantime, the Minister also appointed a 10-member ‘Independent Panel of Governance Experts’ to draft a new constitution for SLC, which the Board labeled as a direct political interference in its governance. SLC appointed its own committee to make constitutional recommendations.
Last month, the Minister set up a five-member technical consultative committee headed by Sanath Jayasuriya to advise the Minister of Sports, Ministry officials, and the National Sports Council on all matters relating to cricket in Sri Lanka.
In 2022, the ICC warned of the possible suspension of the membership in the event of political interference being proved.
“It should be made clear that any investigation by the ICC regarding political interference in the functioning of the SLC could result in a range of potential actions being taken against the Cricket Board. This could include a warning, the suspension of ICC membership, disqualification of the national team from ICC events, and the withdrawal of financial support (including distributions). Some of these actions could also see other members being released from their obligation to fulfill FTP commitments with SLC (under the FTP agreement),” a letter signed by ICC Chief Executive Geoff Allardice said.