The midden finally hits the windmill, what’s next?
The midden has hit the windmill, to put it politely. Do we have any cover now? Doesn’t look like it, as the International Cricket Council (ICC) has finally slapped a suspension on Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) due to alleged government interference.
A statement issued on Friday evening says the SLC is in serious breach of its obligations as a member–in particular, the requirement to manage its affairs autonomously and to ensure there is no government interference in the governance, regulation and/or administration of cricket in Sri Lanka. It said the conditions of the suspension will be decided by the ICC Board in due course.
This was expected, after Minister of Sports Roshan Ranasinghe took a drastic measure this week to suspend the registration of the SLC and handed its powers to an interim committee headed by World Cup-winning cricketer Arjuna Ranatunga. Ranasinghe’s committee lasted less than 24 hours as the Court of Appeal issued an interim injunction suspending his gazette notification on both the suspension and interim committee.
The minister had heightened his call for the resignation of the SLC hierarchy following Sri Lanka’s loss to Afghanistan, even though he was at war with the Shammi Silva-led cricket administration at least since last year’s T20 World Cup in Australia. At various times, he attempted to get rid of the current administration, including by bringing in new regulations to bar them from contesting election. Each time, the SLC hierarchy thwarted him by resorting to legal action.
The battle continued for months. In the meantime, a National Audit Office (NAO) special audit on SLC spending at last year’s T20 World Cup found that the board had splurged Rs.68,237,263 to give 14 executive committee members an ‘all expenses paid holiday’ to watch cricket in Australia. The costs included business class travel for office bearers, economy class tickets for other members of the executive committee and per diems amounting to US$700 a day up to 10 days. This was among many other incidents of misuse of SLC funds based on their own whims and fancies, the NAO report showed.
The audit recommended legal proceedings against “parties that have caused financial disadvantage or damaged the reputation of Sri Lanka Cricket and the Government of Sri Lanka”. After presenting the report to the parliament, a copy was sent to the Attorney General’s department for action.
Hell broke out after the national cricketers became a laughing stock in front of the world by showing little fight during the World Cup. They not only lost to Afghanistan—their first defeat at a World Cup against the men from a war-torn nation—but also suffered a humiliating rout against India.
These exacerbated the call for the resignation of ‘corrupt’ SLC officials. When they refused to give into the Minister’s ‘threats’, he acted unilaterally under powers vested in him by the Sports Law to sack Silva’s committee. His action stirred a hornet’s nest and it was reported that it had angered President Ranil Wickremesinghe who demanded that Minister Ranasinghe withdraws his gazette. He not only refused; he launched a scathing attack on SLC officials for using political patronage to survive.
On Thursday, parliament unanimously passed a resolution to remove the SLC administration after an entire one-day debate. Minister Ranasinghe was not only critical of the SLC top rung but also attacked government officials, some ministers and the judiciary for allegedly standing with ‘the corruptors’. Some members even accused the Secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Jay Shah for using his influence at the ICC to protect such an administration.
This was largely welcomed by the general public, who even took the trouble to stage protests in front of the SLC headquarters at Maitland Place. Despite the turmoil at home, the Sri Lanka team completed the tournament–notching just two wins in nine games–and returned home early Friday morning. But a few hours later, the ICC board met in India to discuss the current situation in Sri Lanka and slapped a ban on SLC.
This will have far-reaching consequences across the country’s cricketing landscape. There’s danger of Sri Lanka losing the hosting rights of the U-19 World Cup next year and probable suspension of financial support from the ICC. ICC said the conditions of the suspension will be decided by the ICC Board in due course.
Sri Lanka is slated to host the ICC Men’s Under-19 Cricket World Cup between January 13 and February 4, 2024, at five venues in Colombo, with the participation of 16 teams.
On Friday afternoon, the Sports Minister stated in parliament that, if the ICC suspends Sri Lanka, the SLC will be handed over to former captain Arjuna Ranatunga to rebuild cricket. Meanwhile, the SLC administration under Shammi Silva has been summoned to appear before the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) on November 14.
It is not immediately clear if the lawmakers influenced, or followed the proper and lawful methods, to question and take appropriate action against the SLC administration. Had the correct path been followed, perhaps they would have received ICC backing. The ICC will meet again from November 18-21 in Ahmadabad.
According to cricinfo.com, SLC had asked the ICC board to take this extreme step. The ICC also continues to recognise SLC President Shammi Silva–who is currently in India and attended Friday’s meeting–as the elected representative. Silva is likely to attend the ICC meetings in Ahmadabad as the ICC Board has allowed SLC representatives in an observer capacity.
It was in 2015 when the cricket board was last suspended by the ICC. This was after had been dissolved by the then Sports Minister Navin Dissanayake who appointed a nine-member interim committee, headed by Sidath Wettimuny, to run Sri Lanka Cricket. Following the suspension, the ICC put funds allocated to SLC in escrow and demoted the board to observer status at board meetings. But they remained a member of the ICC, officially.
Under Minister Ranasinghe’s stewardship, football and rugby were also handed suspensions by their global bodies before being reinstated after democracy was restored.