Italian cricket is in disaster days after the nation’s T20 World Cup debut, because it emerged {that a} senior nationwide governing physique official has been investigated over a sexual assault allegation.
Federazione Cricket Italiana (FCRI) girls’s cricket co-ordinator Prabath Ekneligoda, 57, was the topic of a felony investigation referring to a declare he inappropriately touched a member of the Azzurri girls’s nationwide workforce.
A number of members of the Italy board are mentioned to have resigned over this case and different governance points, BBC Sport has been instructed.
The sexual assault allegation was made to police in Rome in March final yr by a participant who has represented the nationwide workforce.
The participant, whose id is protected for authorized causes, alleged that the sexual assault occurred throughout a therapeutic massage on a knee harm at a coaching session, and he or she had been scared to report the incident as a result of she feared it might price her a spot within the workforce.
An investigation was concluded by a Rome prosecutor in November 2025 and Ekneligoda was interviewed by police the next month.
A call is now set to be made on whether or not there may be enough proof to deliver it to trial. Ekneligoda’s lawyer mentioned his shopper denies the allegations, that there are ulterior motives to the allegations, and {that a} witness helps his model of occasions.
FCRI mentioned in a press release to BBC Sport it “noted proceedings are currently under way before the federal prosecutor’s office” and can “co-operate with the relevant authorities”.
“The Italian Cricket Federation reiterates that its conduct is guided by principles of fairness, transparency and the protection of its registered members, as well as by the ethical and civic standards that underpin the sporting system,” added the assertion.
“The federation therefore defers to the competent judicial authorities for any determinations arising from the matter.”
Ekneligoda, who’s initially from Sri Lanka, was suspended from his position with the FCRI in November however has remained a visual presence on the Italian cricket scene.
He’s the associate of FCRI president Maria Lorena Haz Paz and accompanied her to India for the boys’s T20 World Cup.
BBC Sport has seen proof that Ekneligoda attended Italy’s matches carrying official accreditation and was permitted to take a seat with the remainder of the FCRI occasion.
Ekneligoda was additionally seen at varied occasions laid on for Italy’s cricket delegation, together with a reception on the Italian consulate in Kolkata for officers, gamers and training workers.
The FCRI, its president Haz Paz, and safeguarding officers, had full data of the seriousness of the claims made towards Ekneligoda earlier than the World Cup.
Final weekend, Il Messaggero, exterior and Corriere della Sera, exterior reported the allegations within the Italian media for the primary time.
As of Monday, Ekneligoda was nonetheless listed as the ladies’s cricket coordinator on the FCRI web site.
Sources have instructed BBC Sport that some members of the FCRI’s board have resigned over the matter, and different governance points, which has positioned Haz Paz’s place underneath larger scrutiny.
Senior officers in Italian cricket worry potential reputational injury, and the potential of authorized circumstances, will hamper alternatives to capitalise on their debut T20 World Cup look and develop the sport additional within the nation.
Haz Paz was appointed president of the Italian cricket federation in February 2025 till 2028.
Italy’s debut on the T20 World Cup, and the tales of a few of their gamers, had captured the creativeness of the cricket world.
The Azzurri didn’t make the Tremendous 8 stage however beat Nepal in Mumbai and gave England a scare in Kolkata of their Group C fixtures.
