According to an SLC announcement, President Shammi Silva of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) made a “fervent appeal” to the ICC to “carve out an exception” that would allow Sri Lanka to play international cricket even after SLC was suspended.
Because the ICC disapproved of government meddling in Sri Lanka’s cricket administration, the Men’s Under-19 World Cup, originally scheduled for January of next year, will now be hosted in South Africa. Sri Lanka was stripped of its hosting rights. However, according to an ICC statement earlier in the day, the ICC did permit Sri Lanka to carry on playing international cricket after “hearing representation from SLC”.
“Participating in [the ICC board meeting on November 21] as an observer, the President of SLC, Mr. Shammi Silva, urged the ICC board to grant additional time for the Sri Lankan government to rectify the issue of political interference in cricket,” the release added.
The statement went on, “But the ICC Board decided that the Sri Lankan government had already given enough time to address and resolve the matter after considering comparable sanctions imposed by FIFA and World Rugby in reaction to political meddling. The ICC board subsequently acknowledged Sri Lanka Cricket’s ban.”
However, as far as ESPNcricinfo is aware, SLC officials had asked for an ICC suspension on their own to compel Roshan Ranasinghe, Sri Lanka’s minister of sports, to renounce his plans to replace the board with a temporary committee. Under the leadership of former captain Arjuna Ranatunga, this council included former judges and political sons who had no prior involvement in cricket management.
Silva reaffirmed, among other things, that Sri Lanka was in danger of losing its rights to host the Men’s Under-19 World Cup at a press conference conducted by SLC after that suspension. Along with the personal attacks the minister of sports has made on him in public, he also made personal attacks on the minister.
The particular consequences of a suspension are not defined in the Articles of Association of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The following is the text of Section 2.10 (B): “Any suspension of a Member by the Board of Directors in accordance with Article 2.10 (A) shall be subject to such terms and conditions as the Board of Directors may determine…”
