Sri Lanka sports minister says ICC suspension of cricket board illegal

Sri Lanka's sports minister said Saturday the International Cricket Council's suspension of the nation's cricket board over political interference was illegal and that he will seek to reverse it.

Minister Roshan Ranasinghe told reporters that if he can't resolve the issue through the ICC's conflict resolution arm, he will go to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland.

Ranasinghe said the ICC's suspension was against its own rules and that the organization should have first sought the approval of the other members.

The ICC suspended Sri Lanka Cricket on Friday citing political interference in its administration.

Earlier this week, the ministry of sport sacked the national board over the team's poor performance at the World Cup in India. The ministry also accused the board of corruption.

A court decision reversed the ministry's verdict, but it was still grounds for the ICC to take action.

Sri Lanka is ninth in the World Cup standings. It still needs the remaining games to go in its favour to qualify for the 2025 Champions Trophy in Pakistan.

Sri Lanka is scheduled to host the Under-19 men's World Cup starting in January.

Sri Lanka Cricket chief Shammi Silva told reporters that he will travel to Dubai to meet with ICC officials next week and before he could begin negotiations would need assurances from the government that there will be no political interference.

He rejected corruption allegations.