The inaugural Women’s Champions Trophy, which was set to be held in Sri Lanka in February 2027, has been moved out of the country due to government interference, Cricbuzz understands.

Sri Lanka Cricket is currently being run by a government-appointed Transformation Committee, which was brought in to oversee reforms to the affairs of the board, including changes to its constitution and governance structure. The Transformation Committee had completed a draft constitution of the board and sent it to the Sports Minister. The proposed changes were awaited to undergo legal process before being presented to Parliament.

However, as per ICC’s policy, politically appointed interim administration isn’t allowed. The ICC has also refused to allow SLC representatives to attend ICC Board meetings since the Transformation Committee took over. “The ICC Board received an update on Sri Lanka Cricket and noted progress towards a revised Constitution. It reiterated the need for elections to be held as soon as possible and agreed that Sri Lanka Cricket would continue to be unable to be represented at ICC Board meetings for the time being,” ICC had stated in a release in July.

Beyond the financial implications of the tournament getting withdrawn, there are likely to be cricketing ramifications as well. With the tournament scheduled to play between the top six teams, Sri Lanka had qualified by virtue of being the tournament hosts.

Previously, Sri Lanka had lost the hosting rights of the 2024 Under-19 World Cup, which was eventually moved to South Africa after Sri Lanka’s Sports Ministry had dissolved the elected SLC board.