The Cricket Association of Nepal has been suspended by the International Cricket Council due to a ‘vacuum of cricket leadership’ in the country and also in view of government interference in the board. The ICC Board held its second meeting of the year at the ICC Headquarters in Dubai on Sunday and called for the suspension of the CAN among many other outcomes.

The governing body of world cricket said the membership of CAN will remain suspended until it “becomes free of government interference and is properly structured to begin exploiting the tremendous cricket talent and opportunities that exist in Nepal”. However, the ICC decided that Nepal cricket teams would continue to feature in ICC events.

Nepal cricket has been mired in crisis after the National Sports Council had formed an ad-hoc committee to run the CAN in December. This followed after Chatur Bahudur Chand was elected as CAN’s president without the support of NSC, which is the country’s supreme governing body of sports.

Subsequently, the Chand-led faction moved the court challenging the NSC’s decision, which is still pending.