Sri Lanka to not face ICC sanctions for refusing to attend post-match press conference
Sri Lanka cricket team won’t be facing any sanctions from the International Cricket Council (ICC) after refusing to attend their mandatory post-match press conference at Kennington Oval on Saturday.
Sri Lankan camp didn’t send any representative for the press conference or in the ‘mixed zone’ after losing to Australia by 87 runs for their second defeat of the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup in England.
In a statement, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) said it has discussed the ‘incident’ with ICC and have assured the global body that it won’t happen again.
“Sri Lanka Cricket wishes to announce that, contrary to various media reports, there won’t be any sanctions imposed on the Sri Lanka team by the ICC, over its non-participation in the post-match media conference on Saturday (15th June, 2019) following the World Cup game played against Australia,” SLC said on Monday.
The released further added, “Sri Lanka Cricket discussed the ‘Saturday’s Incident’ with the ICC and assured that a similar situation will not occur going forward in the tournament. The SLC also advised the team management to comply with the obligations, a participating team has to adhere during the ICC Cricket World Cup.”
It is customary for a representative of any team to speak to reporters before and after international matches, and when teams participate in an ICC event signs an agreement to fulfil this obligation.
An ICC spokesperson entered the space allotted for press conferences and told the gathered reporters that Sri Lanka would not be attending. “Sri Lanka have told us they don’t want to do it. The ICC will be speaking to them,” the ICC spokesperson had said.
The unprecedented move in an ICC event came days after Sri Lanka’s team manager Ashantha de Mel was critical of the quality of pitches, practice facilities, transport and accommodation for the squad at this World Cup.