‘Traitorous and corrupt’: Arjuna Ranatunga to head interim cricket committee after minister suspends Sri Lanka cricket board over World Cup humiliation

“Sports minister Roshan Ranasinghe has formed an interim committee for Sri Lanka Cricket,” Ranasinghe’s office said in a statement.

Ranasinghe said that Sri Lanka Cricket officials had no moral or ethical right to remain in office.

“They should voluntarily resign,” he said, having previously accused the board of being “traitorous and corrupt”.

On Saturday Ranasinghe wrote to full members of the ICC asking for their understanding and support.

“Sri Lanka Cricket has been besieged with complaints of player disciplinary issues, management corruption, financial misconduct and match-fixing allegations,” Ranasinghe said in the letters, released to Sri Lankan media.

“I would like to emphasise that interim measures will only be taken to establish good governance principles.”

The seven-member interim committee also includes three retired judges. Ranatunga will be joined by two retired Supreme Court judges in the seven-member committee.

“Sri Lanka Cricket had become known as the most corrupt institution in the country,” said Arjuna Ranatunga. “I want to change that image.”

The board’s suspension comes amid growing public anger against the administrators and players over Sri Lanka’s dismal performance in the ongoing World Cup tournament in India.

The secretary of Sri Lanka Cricket, Mohan de Silva, the second-highest official on the board, stepped down on Saturday as fans protested in front of its headquarters.

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The minister sacked remaining board members on Monday, replacing them with an interim committee chaired by World Cup winning former captain Arjuna Ranatunga, his ministry said in a statement.

Prasanna Ranatunga — brother of Arjuna Ranatunga has said in the parliament in August that the 1996 triumph had been “the biggest curse for our cricket”.

“Money started flowing to the cricket board after 1996 and with that came those who wanted to steal,” he said.

The 1996 champions have lost five out of seven matches in the round-robin stage and now they are out of the semifinal spot and now will be hoping to end their campaign on high so that they could finish in top eight and qualify for the 2025 Champions Trophy to be held in Pakistan.