Sri Lanka cricket board quits at government's request: officials

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s cricket board stepped down on Tuesday after the government asked the sporting body’s executive committee to make way for a new administration, officials said.

Sri Lanka Cricket is the country’s richest sporting body but it has been plagued by allegations of corruption and mismanagement.

A board official said that its president, Shammi Silva, convened a special meeting to announce his resignation, with 11 months remaining in his fourth two-year term.

“The committee resigned to make way for an interim management team headed by a former investment banker, who is also an opposition politician,” the official told AFP, asking not to be named.

READ MORE: Sri Lanka govt tells cricket board to quit

A government official said Sri Lanka’s President Anura Kumara Dissanayake had met with Silva over the weekend to discuss the future of the board under a new management.

Sri Lanka made an early exit from the T20 World Cup, which it co-hosted with India in February-March.

The International Cricket Council (ICC), the sport’s world governing body, suspended Sri Lanka’s membership in November 2023, citing political interference in the running of the national board.

That suspension had been lifted at the end of January 2024, and Silva’s committee was restored. He subsequently won a fourth term uncontested as president.