Cricket Canada's funding frozen by governing body following fifth estate investigation

Cricket Canada was dealt a john major bump this hebdomad when the international governing personify overseeing the feature froze funding to the organization, the fifth estate has learned. 

The Dubai-based International Cricket Council (ICC) issued the notice Monday, two days after Cricket Canada held its annual general meeting and elected a new board. 

The move follows a fifth estate investigation published last month that revealed broader allegations of corruption, financial mismanagement and attempts to fix parts of matches by major figures at Cricket Canada. Those accused deny the allegations.

Cricket Canada receives most of its funding from the ICC. In its 2024 financial report, the organization said it received just over $3.6 million from the ICC, or 63 per cent of that year's revenue.

According to information obtained by the fifth estate, the ICC told Cricket Canada's board it has six months to resolve several issues or permanently lose the funding.

"The current Board has inherited these issues and is fully committed to resolving all governance, compliance, and financial control deficiencies," Cricket Canada media manager Jimmy Sharma said in a statement.

At an event in Brampton, Ont., on Wednesday, newly-elected Vice-President Ranjit Chaudhri said that while he was aware of the ICC's letter, he had not seen it.

"We did find there were definitely governance issues were there, the financial issues, if there are any. I don't think there was mismanagement, it was just not properly accounted in proper accounts, that's probably what it was," Chaudhri said.

According to information obtained by the fifth estate, the key reasons for the funding freeze were breaches of ICC policies, including concerns over Cricket Canada's governance and lack of financial oversight. 

The ICC said Cricket Canada submitted inaccurate and incomplete budget information, including suggesting it was still receiving Sport Canada funding even though that money had been cut off.

The ICC also said Cricket Canada underestimated its legal fees at less than $25,000, though a recent B.C. Court decision showed the actual number may be close to $460,000.

Corruption, Crime & Cricket Canada

That decision, in which a judge found Cricket Canada was engaged in civil wars with provincial associations and driven by egos and ambitions, was also cited by the ICC as an example of poor governance.

The ICC noted that despite Sport Canada's withdrawal of funding, Cricket Canada had not addressed the federal sports ministry's concerns, including the lack of a recruitment process for a new general manager and CEO after former CEO Salman Khan was fired in December.

A spokesperson for the ICC did not respond to the fifth estate's request for comment. 

At Cricket Canada's annual general meeting in Mississauga, interim president Arvinder Khosa was elected president.

Six weeks earlier, Khosa had been appointed interim president during a court-ordered special general meeting.

Last year, Khosa led a group of provincial cricket associations in filing a petition in the B.C. Supreme Court. The petition argued that because of "governance concerns" and "lack of proper financial controls," it was necessary to hold a special vote on the leadership and remove four directors, including the then-president and vice-president. 

In March, a judge sided with the provinces and ordered the vote to go ahead, leading to Khosa becoming president and ousting former president Amjad Bajwa.

One week later, the fifth estate investigation revealed Khosa was connected to players who claimed to be part of the Bishnoi gang and had allegedly threatened a national men's player in 2025.

The players allegedly wanted Dilpreet Bajwa to become Canada's captain at the T20 Men's World Cup in India. Bajwa is now under investigation by the ICC's anti-corruption unit after a suspicious play in a match against New Zealand on Feb. 17.

In an interview before becoming interim president, Khosa denied any knowledge of threats by those claiming to be the Bishnoi gang and said those accusing him were trying to ruin his reputation.

"This is like political propaganda. I am never involved in this kind of sh-t," said Khosa.

When asked about the new president, Chaudhri said the new board questioned Khosa about the allegations in the fifth estate documentary.

"We asked point blank, we had a two-hour meeting, we asked all these questions," Chaudhri said. "We were assured … he's never been questioned by police, we were assured there's nothing like [the allegations]."

Amit Joshi, one of Cricket Canada's newly elected board members and longtime president of Nova Scotia Cricket Association, stood by the new president.

When asked why the board would vote for Khosa, despite information that had been brought forward in the fifth estate's investigation Joshi said, "Nothing has been proven as far as I know."

"Whatever came up was ... Unfortunate. As far as the members know, we trust him with what we know about him."

---

---