Cricket Canada surprised after 'unexpected' suspension by governing body over breaches of membership

After a serial publication of controversies and allegations of depravity and financial misdirection, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has suspended Cricket Canada's rank.

The ICC cited the organization's "serious breaches of its rank obligations" in a statement on its website, following a board meeting in Ahmedabad, India, on Sunday.

In May, the sport's Dubai-based international body froze Cricket Canada's funding and gave the organization six months to get its house in order. At that time, an ICC letter said the organization lacked adequate governance systems and hadn't filed audited financial statements.

"[The ICC] is not a body that does this readily, so clearly they've been worried about something for a while," said Osman Samiuddin, chief editor of ESPNCricinfo.

He says the ICC has taken this step in the past with other national organizations, including last year with Cricket USA.

In that case, the ICC put the American cricket organization "on notice" before eventually taking over management in the fall of 2025.

Cricket Canada suspended following corruption allegations

Cricket Canada receives most of its funding from the ICC. In its 2024 financial report, on which an auditor had not signed off, the organization said the ICC had given it just over $3.6 million, or 63 per cent of that year's revenue.

"The financial suspension shows that they've clearly lost any faith that they had in Cricket Canada's ability to manage finances in a non-corrupt and transparent way," Samiuddin said.

In a statement emailed to the fifth estate, Cricket Canada's new interim chief operating officer Bhavjit Jauhar wrote that the ICC suspension was "unexpected," but that Cricket Canada respects the ICC's decision and "remains fully committed to meeting all compliance requirements."

The move follows a fifth estate investigation published in April 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.

The reporting also revealed that the ICC's anti-corruption unit was investigating national men's team captain Dilpreet Bajwa for alleged match-fixing in an incident in Canada's game against New Zealand in the recent Men's T20 Cricket World Cup in Chennai, India, in February.

Cricket Canada's suspension comes less than a month after a new board was elected as well as a new president and vice-president and the appointment of Jauhar as interim COO. 

Jauhar said the "irregularities identified by the ICC stem from actions and systemic weaknesses under the previous boards and management."

To resolve that, Jauhar says Cricket Canada has tapped lawyer and former Pan American athlete Dasha Peregoudova to lead an independent committee to examine issues with governance and financial controls.

He says the committee will have full access to Cricket Canada's finances and can interview staff and board members — with a report coming in 45 days.

Other members of the committee include Devesh Shankar, an independent cricket journalist, and Harry Grewal, a chartered professional accountant.

The ICC said Monday that Canada's national teams can continue to participate in ICC events during the suspension. However, funding for those programs will only be accessible under ICC oversight. 

That means there should be no impact to the national men's team when they play the U.S. And the Netherlands in a Cricket World Cup qualifying tournament in King City, Ont., beginning Saturday.

Cricket Canada will be required to meet a set of conditions, including addressing governance and administrative issues, in order to be considered for reinstatement, but so far no timeline or details of those conditions have been announced. 

However, Cricket Canada says it will continue to deliver non-national team programs as scheduled.

That comes as welcome news to players and former players like Derek Perera who trains young players and runs the Ontario Cricket Academy.

He says many have been asking him about how the recent turmoil around Cricket Canada, and now the suspension, will affect development programs and tournaments like the under-19 qualifiers.

"As a cricketer, you go through many ups and downs and a lot of it is in your control, but this is completely out of their control," said Perera who played for the national team in the late '90s.

"It does put a lot of questions in their mind and they should really just be concentrating on the next game or the next training session."

Perera says Cricket Canada's problems have made the country a laughingstock among other cricket-playing nations, and he's optimistic that ICC control will help turn things around.

"I think [the ICC] can bring some professionalism, some organization, some direction and at least to get us up on our feet. We can at least make some steps forward," Perera said.

"There's some amazing cricketers here in Canada that deserve better."

Corruption, Crime & Cricket Canada

Steven D'Souza, Roxanna Woloshyn, Lisa Ellenwood

Steven D'Souza is a co-host of the fifth estate, Roxanna Woloshyn is a producer and Lisa Ellenwood is a senior writer with the fifth estate. They can be reached at steven.dsouza@cbc.ca and roxanna.woloshyn@cbc.ca.

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