ICC CEO Meets Sri Lanka President & Sports Minister Amid SLC's Suspension
ICC suspended SLC in November due to political intervention [X.com]
ICC CEO Geoff Allardice caught up with Sri Lanka's sports minister Harin Fernando and President Ranil Wickremesinghe during a brief visit to the Island nation as he sought a better understanding of the political environment within the country since it relates to cricket administration.
The meet and interaction were critical to Sri Lankan Cricket (SLC) after the apex body suspended the cricket governing organisation of the country in November after observing political intervention, as is barred in its constitution for all member nations.
Not only did it mean that SLC's funding was paused, but Sri Lanka was also stripped of hosting rights for the ICC U-19 World Cup 2024, which was shifted to South Africa instead.
Following the meeting, Fernando tweeted that Allardice had engaged in constructive discussions and suggested a way forward for the SLC with him.
Following this, the ICC chief executive met with President Wickremesinghe to discuss potential changes to SLC's constitution and avoid future government disturbances.
ICC CEO Meets SL's President, Sports Minister
"Allardice will now report his findings back to the ICC's board, which is due to meet at the end of March, and are likely to have the matter of SLC's membership on their agenda," ESPN Cricinfo reported.
SLC's suspension had been in the offing since early November when previous sports minister Roshan Ranasinghe sacked the entire board following the disastrous pre-semifinal exit at the ICC World Cup 2023 in India.
However, the judiciary of the Sri Lankan government reversed that decision the very next day (November 7) after issuing a stay order on the minister's gazette.
A week later, SLC officials requested the ICC to act and suspend the existing board to ensure no further government interference is caused in the cricketing matters of the board.
 "Kashish Chadha")
