Cricket Canada, the body governing the sport in the country, has described the International Cricket Council’s decision to suspend its membership as unexpected, saying that it will take “corrective measures” to rectify the deficiencies identified by the global body.
The decision to suspend Cricket Canada’s membership was taken at ICC’s board meeting in Ahmedabad. Canada is an associate member and participated in the T20 World Cup held in India earlier this year.
ICC said the suspension was with “immediate effect due to serious breaches of its membership obligations”. But it said that Canadian national representative teams will “continue to be eligible to participate in ICC” to protect the interests of players.
In a statement responding to the ICC decision, Cricket Canada said it was “unexpected” but it will be respected. Cricket Canada said it “is fully committed to meeting all compliance requirements. The Board has directed the Committee to accelerate its investigative and reform mandate to ensure that governance, financial oversight, and reporting systems are strengthened without delay,” according to the statement cited by the outlet Sportsnet.
“Since receiving ICC’s notice, Cricket Canada has undertaken immediate, comprehensive, and structured corrective measures to remedy the governance, financial oversight, and administrative deficiencies identified in the ICC’s correspondence,” it added.
It acknowledged funding to the national body will be withheld during the period of suspension. However, it will have access to funds through a controlled mechanism under the oversight of ICC management, but only for approved national team programmes. ICC is expected to provide Cricket Canada with reinstatement conditions and progress will be monitored its Normalisation Committee
Cricket Canada has been in turmoil over allegations of gang-related threats to national team players, which were being investigated by law enforcement, and a web of others allegations, ranging from corruption to match-fixing.
A months-long investigation by the outlet CBC News raised questions about the role of Cricket Canada’s former and current management and potential match-fixing linked to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang.
Cricket Canada has been in turmoil in recent months amid allegations to financial mismanagement and underwent a court-ordered vote that resulted in a new president being elected earlier this month. Indo-Canadian Arvinder Khosa assumed charge from Amjad Bajwa. However, Khosa was also named in the CBC report and he had dismissed the personal allegations as “political propaganda” against him.
Allegations encompass the March T20 World Cup in India in which Canada was a participant, where a national team player was interviewed by the International Cricket Council’s Anti-Corruption Unit. That may have related to possible match-fixing, the report suggested. Last month, Khosa’s residence in Surrey, British Columbia, was fired upon in what local police believed was part of an extortion attempt.
In a statement released at the time, Cricket Canada said that it took “these matters seriously and remains focused on strengthening governance and supporting the growth of the game.”
“Any conclusions will be based on verified facts, proper process, and fairness to all involved,” it added.t said that it “operates within” the ICC’s “anti-corruption framework and remains fully compliant with all ICC applicable requirements”.
