ICC suspends Cricket Association of Nepal

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has officially suspended the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) due the government influence in the cricket body. The decision was taken during the ICC meeting on Tuesday.

The Nepal’s National Sports Council (NSC) recently formed a committee which would run the Cricket Association of Nepal. However, this decision came in soon after CAN appointed Chatur Bahadur Chand as its president without the NSC’s permission.  The Chand-led CAN faction then filed a court case, which is still pending, challenging the NSC’s decision.

“In light of the ongoing court case involving the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) and the Ad hoc Committee established by the Nepalese National Sports Council (NSC), which has led to a vacuum of cricket leadership in Nepal, the Board suspended the Membership of CAN for breach of Article 2.9 of the ICC’s Articles of Association, which prohibits government interference and requires free and fair elections,” the ICC said in a statement.

The ICC board added that the suspension would stay in place “until such time as the CAN becomes free of government interference and is properly structured to begin exploiting the tremendous cricket talent and opportunities that exist in Nepal.”

Also read: Gautam Gambhir upset over Salman Khan’ appointment for Olympics ambassador

However the participation of the Nepal cricket team in the ICC events will not be affected and they will still be allowed to feature in the ICC tournaments. The only thing that changes for the moment is that ICC will cut off all its sanctions and funding made to the CAN.

The ICC statement further stated that ICC will continue to work with the Nepalese cricket community to develop the sport in the nation. “ICC management will also now work with the Nepalese cricket community, and other stakeholders, in order to assist with the development of a sustainable governance and administration structure for cricket in Nepal.”