AHMEDABAD — The International Cricket Council suspended Cricket Canada over what it described as "serious breaches of its membership obligations." The ICC finalized the suspension at a meeting in Ahmedabad, India, on Sunday.
The ICC had frozen Cricket Canada’s funding in May after alleging the organization lacked adequate governance systems and had failed to file audited financial statements. Despite the suspension, Canadian teams remain eligible to compete in sanctioned ICC events, and the ICC will allow them to continue playing to ensure athletes are not penalized for administrative issues within the national body.
Cricket Canada will have limited access to financial resources for its national teams through a controlled funding mechanism under ICC oversight. The governing body will provide Cricket Canada with a set of reinstatement conditions, and the organization’s membership will be restored only after it meets those requirements to the satisfaction of the ICC’s board. The ICC Normalisation Committee will monitor Cricket Canada’s progress.
Bhavjit Jauhar, Cricket Canada’s interim chief operating officer, said the ICC suspension was "unexpected" but that the organization won’t challenge the decision. He added that Cricket Canada "remains fully committed to meeting all compliance requirements."
Cricket Canada said it had already started implementing immediate, comprehensive, and structured corrective measures to address governance, financial oversight, and administrative deficiencies identified in the ICC's correspondence. The organization also announced it will initiate an independent investigation into governance and financial controls.
CBC’s investigative unit, the Fifth Estate, previously reported allegations of corruption, coercion, and evidence of match-fixing within Cricket Canada. The outlet detailed questionable promotions within the player ranks and accusations that top organization members ordered elements of matches to be fixed. A member of Canada’s national cricket team told CBC that certain players were meant to rise quickly through the ranks—including to the level of captain. Players also received threats that they could be killed if they didn’t cooperate with match-fixing arrangements. After the team’s captain made an error in the opening part of a game against New Zealand in February, he was questioned by the ICC’s anti-corruption unit for alleged match-fixing.