World Cup 2019: Sri Lanka refuses to attend the post-match press conference after their loss against Australia
What's the story?
After the 87 run defeat against Australia, no one from the Sri Lankan team appeared in the post-match press conference on 15th June 2019. There are chances that ICC might take this matter strictly and take sanctions against the island nation.
In case you didn't know...
Recently, Sri Lanka team manager Ashantha de Mel had alleged that ICC was giving preferential treatment to several teams in the tournament.
Heart of the matter
The Sri Lankan team management was unhappy with the training facilities and practice pitches provided to them.
"This is a World Cup where the top ten countries are taking part and I feel that all the participants should be treated equally," De Mel was quoted as saying by Sri Lankan newspaper Daily News.
Asantha Del Mel had pointed out that the pitch for the match between Sri Lanka and Australia was green. He claimed that ICC was being unfair as they were preparing different types of pitches for different teams.
"The pitch being prepared for our match against Australia on Saturday here at the Oval is green. It is not sour grapes that we are complaining but it is very unfair on the part of the ICC that they prepare one type of wicket for certain teams and another type for others," Del Mel added.
ICC had issued a statement in the response to the allegations made by Sri Lankan team manager and had defended itself by pointing out that they employed a pitch advisor to work with the curators.
"We employ an independent pitch advisor to work with the host curators at all ICC events and the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2019 is no different," an ICC statement read.
Today, Sri Lanka started their chase well but a collapse meant that they fell well short of the target. This defeat means that their chances of reaching the semi-final have reduced.
What's next?
It remains to be seen how ICC views this protest from Sri Lanka. It won't be a surprise if Sri Lanka receives a sanction from the apex cricket body.
Also read - World cup 2019 highlights
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