Sawhney was sent on "leave" pending an inquiry in March 2021.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Thursday (July 8) removed Manu Sawhney from his post of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the organization with immediate effect four months after the findings of an internal investigation over his “abrasive conduct”.
Sawhney was removed from his position after more than 90% of the apex body employees gave their testimonies against him. ICC acting CEO Geoff Allardice will continue in his role and take over the proceedings from Sawhney whose management style wasn’t liked by several board members.
The decision was taken by the ICC board at an emergency board meeting chaired by the chairman Greg Barclay on Thursday following an internal review conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) against Sawhney, who came under scrutiny for his “abrasive behavior” with colleagues earlier this year.
In March 2021, Sawhney was suspended by the ICC pending an inquiry after a number of allegations surfaced against him, including bullying and exhibiting physical aggression such as fist banging which impacted directly or indirectly on the individual’s health and well-being.
In a brief statement, the ICC said: “The ICC today announced that chief executive Manu Sawhney will leave the organization with immediate effect. Geoff Allardice will continue as acting CEO supported by the Leadership Team working closely with the ICC board.”
However, the ICC has refused to share the details of the internal review, but the full PwC report, including a review of the workings of the board, was distributed to all directors on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Sawhney denied the allegations, accusing the ICC of making unilateral, non-transparent, and unfair decisions while terming the accusations as a “premeditated witch hunt”. According to the ICC constitution, he has five days to lodge an appeal with the ICC board.
He had replaced Dave Richardson after the ICC World Cup in 2019 for tenure till 2022. The 56-year-old hasn’t been on the best of terms with some of the influential cricket boards, including the Indian cricket board (BCCI), England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), and Cricket Australia (CA) with regards to various policy decisions, especially his idea to bid and pay a fee for hosting the ICC events during the next cycle.
The second reason why some of the bigger boards are upset is his backing to the ICC’s recent decision of asking boards to bid and pay a fee for hosting events during the next cycle.
Noteworthy, Sawhney is the former CEO of Singapore Sports Hub and Managing Director of ESPN Star Sports, a company he worked with for 17 years. He is also a non-executive director and member of the Audit Committee of Manchester United Ltd.
(With PTI Inputs)