Cricket Canada has reacted to the International Cricket Council’s decision to suspend its membership by calling the move “unexpected” and saying it has already started remedial work aimed at fixing the governance and financial shortcomings flagged by the ICC. The ICC, after suspending Cricket Canada with immediate effect following its Ahmedabad meeting on Sunday, also clarified that Canadian national teams will not be penalised in ICC competitions while the suspension remains in place.
Key takeaways
- The ICC suspended Cricket Canada with immediate effect after its Board meeting in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
- Cricket Canada said it respected the ruling and has begun corrective measures to address the issues raised by the ICC.
- The ICC stated Canadian national representative teams will stay eligible for ICC events during the suspension.
- Cricket Canada said it has launched immediate, structured reforms covering governance, financial oversight, and administration.
- The ICC will issue a set of conditions to Cricket Canada, with progress monitored by its Normalisation Committee.
- Reinstatement will only happen once the ICC Board is satisfied that all requirements have been met.
Cricket Canada’s response and corrective actions
Cricket Canada described the suspension as “unexpected” but maintained that it is fully committed to meeting all compliance requirements set by the ICC. In its statement, the national body said the board had instructed a committee to speed up its investigative and reform mandate to ensure governance, financial supervision, and reporting processes are strengthened without delay.
The governing body said it has already begun implementing remedial measures after receiving communication from the ICC. Cricket Canada added that since the notice was received, it has taken immediate, comprehensive and structured steps intended to fix the governance, financial oversight and administrative deficiencies cited in the ICC’s correspondence.
Cricket Canada also stressed that it takes the ICC’s concerns seriously. It said its focus remains on raising governance standards while continuing to support the growth of cricket within the country. The suspension, meanwhile, is unfolding alongside the ICC’s ongoing investigation into alleged corruption involving Cricket Canada.
Those allegations were brought into the spotlight earlier this year through the CBC documentary “Corruption, Crime and Cricket”. Cricket Canada responded by saying it operates within the ICC’s anti-corruption framework and remains compliant with the relevant requirements. It further indicated that any final conclusions should be based on verified information and due process.
Eligibility for Canadian teams and ICC’s conditions
As Canada is an associate member of the ICC, it participated in the T20 World Cup held in India earlier this year. When explaining its decision, the ICC said the Board was conscious of the need to protect Canadian players’ interests and ensure they are not disadvantaged by governance problems affecting the national governing body.
With that in mind, the ICC confirmed that Canadian national representative teams will continue to be eligible to take part in ICC events during the period of suspension. The ICC also said it will now give Cricket Canada a list of conditions that must be satisfied to address the governance and administrative gaps identified by the Board.
Progress against those conditions will be tracked by the ICC Normalisation Committee. Cricket Canada’s membership will be reinstated only once the ICC Board is satisfied that all requirements have been fulfilled.
