Sri Lanka Emergency LIVE: Asia Cup 2022 LIVE: Despite pulling of the Australia series successfully, Sri Lanka Cricket are on the back foot yet again. Following Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fleeing the country amid protest, the island nation has declared a state of emergency. That has put the upcoming Pakistan Tour of Sri Lanka and Asia Cup 2022 both in jeopardy. A final decision will be made on Friday. Follow SL vs PAK LIVE & Asia Cup 2022 LIVE Updates on InsideSport.IN.
The Asia Cup 2022 venue is set to be decided on 15th July. The secretary of SriLanka cricket Mohan de Silva claimed that he is confident of his country hosting the Asia Cup. He said, “As far as we are concerned, we are still very confident of hosting the tournament in Sri Lanka.”
Sri Lanka Emergency LIVE: Decision on Asia Cup 2022 on Friday after Sri Lanka declares national emergency: Follow Live Updates
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Making things complicated, thousands of people stormed PM Ranil Wickremesinghe’s palace as well on Wednesday. It has forced the country’s military to step in and urge people to refrain from doing so. With curfews in entire Colombo, Sri Lanka is in a state of turmoil and dispair.
“Since the president is out of the country, an emergency has been declared to deal with the situation in the country,” Dinouk Colombage, spokesman for Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, said.
Sri Lanka Emergency LIVE: Decision on Asia Cup 2022 on Friday after Sri Lanka declares national emergency: Follow Live Updates
Sri Lanka Emergency LIVE: Curfews across country:
Sri Lanka has been riddled with problems of late due to the economical crisis and mass protests across the country. Amid all of that, President Rajapaksa fled to the Maldives as thousands of protesters entered the Presidential palace in Galle.
In light of the recent protests and unrest, Sri Lankan police have imposed indefinite curfews across the Western Province including Colombo after Rajapaksa fled the country in a military aircraft.
“There are ongoing protests outside the prime minister’s office in Colombo and we need the curfew to contain the situation,” a senior police officer told AFP.
Babar Azam-led Pakistan team is already in Sri Lanka to play two-match Test series. Pakistan is currently playing a warm-up game in Colombo. However, it is not yet known whether the two-match Test series starting July 16 in Galle will go ahead.
Sri Lanka Emergency LIVE: Decision on Asia Cup 2022 on Friday after Sri Lanka declares national emergency: Follow Live Updates
Sri Lanka Emergency LIVE: Asia Cup 2022 to be moved out of Sri Lanka?
- The jinxed Asia Cup is now in serious doubt due to the national emergency in Sri Lanka.
- The Asian Cricket Council had already put Bangladesh on standby due to the situation.
- The tournament is slated to start on August 27.
- While Sri Lanka Cricket was determined and hopeful of successfully hosting the jinxed tournament that has been postponed twice, the conditions do not permit hosting a multi-national tournament.
- Neighbouring countries are monitoring the situation and a final decision will be taken by the ACC before the end of 3rd week of July.
- If moved out, the decision will be huge blow for SLC. The board will lose $5-6 million in revenues.
Sri Lanka Emergency LIVE: Decision on Asia Cup 2022 on Friday after Sri Lanka declares national emergency: Follow Live Updates
The SLC up till now had managed to convince their neighbouring cricket boards including BCCI that they can successfully host the tournament.
The protest has made it on to the fort overlooking the cricket. The cops can’t stop numbers like this pic.twitter.com/14HaQ2s7Qd
— Andrew Fidel Fernando (@afidelf) July 9, 2022
The Australian men’s team has just concluded a month-long tour of Sri Lanka. The Indian women’s team also toured the country recently.
However, the ACC doesn’t want to take any chances if the situation deteriorates further.
Speaking to Insidesport, SLC CEO Ashley de Silva had suggested that not hosting the Asia Cup would result in a loss of $5-6 Million in revenue.
“Big revenues get generated by hosting teams like India and Pakistan. That’s why we are still trying to persuade the countries to play in Sri Lanka. For us revenues are critical. At this stage even for our country any incoming dollar is critical. We are all geared up to host the Asia Cup and we all are in a positive mood,” said CEO of SLC Ashley de Silva.
The protestors and unrest in the country reached the Galle International Stadium during the SL vs AUS 2nd test. This is the reason Asian Cricket Council (ACC) is likely to re-evaluate the venue for the tournament.
Last week, thousands of protestors stormed the Presidential Palace in Colombo as Sri Lanka continue to grapple with civilian unrest. There is a huge shortage of essential goods and protests have been the norm.
A few of the protesters reached the Galle International Stadium, during Day 2 of the SL vs AUS 2nd Test. Some of them scaled the Galle Fort which overlooks the Stadium in a massive security lapse, though the match went on without any stoppages.
Sri Lanka Emergency LIVE: Decision on Asia Cup 2022 on Friday after Sri Lanka declares national emergency: Follow Live Updates
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