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

Cricket Canada was dealt a major blow this week when the international governing body overseeing the sport 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