Sri Lankan Minister of Sports Harin Fernando rescinds the SLC board’s dismissal.

Tuesday, December 12, saw the reversal of the Sri Lanka Cricket Board‘s firing due to allegations of corruption by the country’s Minister of Sports, Harin Fernando. The International Cricket Council’s (ICC) suspension was intended to be resolved with this action.

The minister hopes to allay the ICC’s worries about “government interference” in the board’s operations by rescinding the dismissal. This development is part of a continuing story that led to the dismissal of Roshan Ranasinghe, Fernando’s predecessor, for allegedly blaming the nation’s president, Ranil Wickremesinghe, for an attempted assassination.

“I signed a gazette to revoke the decision appointing an interim committee for Sri Lanka Cricket, aiming to lift our ICC suspension,” Harin Fernando posted to X.

Harin Fernando stated that he has asked for the International Cricket Council’s “observations” on an audit report that looks at claims of board corruption during the 2022 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in Australia. The ICC has not yet responded to requests for an immediate response on this issue. Ranasinghe removed the elected board in November 2023, accusing its members of serious corruption—a claim they strenuously refute. Notably, in response, the international governing body suspended Sri Lanka, citing the board’s inability to stop political meddling.

Due to the incident involving corruption in the richest sports organization, the SLC, Ranasinghe was fired towards the end of last month. Ranasinghe had been at odds with President Wickremesinghe about how to run SLC, adamantly refusing to reverse the board’s firing as the president had ordered.

Recently, because of his attempts “to cleanse the cricket board” in the parliament, Ranasinghe voiced worries about his safety. “If I am assassinated on the road, the president and his chief of staff will be responsible,” he said.

Because of governing concerns, the ICC stripped Sri Lanka of its eligibility to host the U-19 World Cup.

Sri Lanka lost the opportunity to host the Under-19 World Cup in January 2024 after the ICC banned the country. Since then, South Africa has been confirmed as the tournament’s new host nation. The ICC has already suspended Sri Lanka, citing laws against political meddling.

But the immediate financial fallout from this suspension was evident when the elected members of SLC disclosed that the nation had forfeited $2.4 million in ICC funding meant for site improvements in order to host the 16-team competition. Sri Lanka can still participate in bilateral competitions in spite of the restriction.