The International Cricket Council (ICC) has canceled the Sri Lanka Women's Champions Trophy, which was to start in the year 2027. This is a significant setback to the Sri Lankan cricket authorities. The Council came to this decision on August 30, 2026, due to the interference of the government in the affairs of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC).
The Women's Champions Trophy was initially planned to be held from February 14 to 28, 2027, with six teams competing in T20I matches. Teams that were supposed to participate in the event are Australia, England, India, New Zealand, South Africa and Sri Lanka.
Why did Sri Lanka lose the hosting rights?
The ICC blamed political interference in the running of Sri Lanka Cricket for its decision to rescind its hosting rights for the 2027 Women's Champions Trophy.
The world governing body has always taken the view that boards should be run independently by their elected administrators who are free of government interference.
Sri Lanka won the right to host the tournament when the country's board was under the control of Shammi Silva, but the deal was undone when a government-appointed Cricket Transition Committee took over.
Prakash Schaffter, Secretary of the Cricket Transition Committee, revealed that they had been told by the ICC that they would no longer stage the 2027 Women's Champions Trophy.
The notice was given to the transition committee rather than the former independently elected administration.
The ICC has a strict policy of no government interference in the affairs of member boards and demands that cricket administrations are independent and directly elected.
Having a government-appointed committee control the game in the country is clearly unacceptable to the ICC, and such a move will inevitably affect Sri Lanka's standing in the game.
Having the 2027 Women's Champions Trophy pulled from the Sri Lankan itinerary is one of the most severe punishments available to the ICC when a member nation flouts its rules.
The ICC has now started the process of finding an alternative host for the inaugural Women's Champions Trophy. However, as of August 30, 2026, no replacement host had been found.
Nor has the ICC stated whether it intends to retain the original dates of February 14-28, once a successor to Sri Lanka has been found.
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The six-nation field will almost certainly remain the same, with Australia, England, India, New Zealand, South Africa and the new host nation set to compete in the competition.
But it is not yet clear whether Sri Lanka will remain a participant or become the host nation.
And it is also not clear whether the ongoing involvement of the Cricket Transition Committee has further consequences for Sri Lanka's cricketing relationship with the ICC. As of August 30 the ICC had not officially commented on whether it would take further action against Sri Lanka Cricket.