ICC lifts ban on Sri Lanka Cricket

The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Sunday lifted the ban on Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) with immediate effect after they were suspended for violation of responsibilities as an ICC Member in November last year.

The violation was 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 apex cricket governing body said it has been monitoring the situation since the suspension and are now satisfied that SLC are no longer in breach of membership obligations.


However, the ICC after its November 21 meeting decided to allow the island nation to compete internationally both in bilateral cricket and ICC events but restricted it from hosting the U19 Men's Cricket World Cup and moved it to South Africa.

In 2023, a sequence of events unfolded in Sri Lankan cricket following the team's disappointing run in the ongoing World Cup in India, securing victories in only two out of their nine matches and concluding with a total of four points. Currently the team is positioned at No.8 in the points table.

The leader of the main opposition party, Sajith Premadasa, had presented a resolution titled 'the removal of the corrupt SLC (Sri Lanka Cricket) management,' which received support from senior government minister Nimal Siripala de Silva.

Parliament's approval of the resolution came two days after the Court of Appeal reinstated the SLC management led by Shammi Silva.

This was followed by suspension of Sri Lanka Cricket’s membership by the ICC.