Kumar Sangakkara has accused Irish airline Ryanair’s staff of “discriminatory and threatening behaviour” towards him and his family at Dublin Airport. The former Sri Lanka captain shared his experience on social media on Wednesday, describing the alleged treatment by the airline’s gate personnel as unacceptable.
Sangakkara is widely regarded as one of Sri Lanka’s greatest cricketers and was known for his calm demeanour throughout his career. The left-handed batter retired from international cricket in 2015 after 594 matches, scoring 12,400 runs in 134 Tests and 14,234 runs in 404 ODIs, alongside 56 T20I appearances.
Kumar Sangakkara Calls Out Ryanair Staff Over Dublin Airport Incident
Taking to X, Kumar Sangakkara questioned whether other passengers had experienced similar treatment from Ryanair’s gate personnel in Dublin. He did not disclose what led to the confrontation but criticised the staff’s tone, handling of procedures and alleged threatening behaviour.
“Has anyone experienced discriminatory gate personnel @Ryanair in Dublin? My family and I just did, and it was shocking. The tone of address, the mishandling of procedures and the threatening behaviour were unacceptable for any passenger,” Kumar Sangakkara wrote.
“First bad experience in Dublin,” the former cricketer added. His post drew widespread attention on social media, but Ryanair had not responded to the allegations at the time of writing.
Ryanair is an Irish ultra-low-cost airline headquartered in Swords, County Dublin. It is Europe’s largest airline by scheduled passenger numbers, fleet size and total flights.
Has anyone experienced discriminatory gate personnel @Ryanair in Dublin ? I with my family just did and it was shocking. The tone of address and the mishandling of procedure and threatening behavior. Unacceptable for any passenger. First bad experience in Dublin
— Kumar Sangakkara (@KumarSanga2) Ocoe 8 06
Sanjiva Weerawarana Backs Kumar Sangakkara After Discrimination Allegation
The post drew a response from fellow Sri Lankan Sanjiva Weerawarana, the CEO of WSO2, who shared his own experience of alleged discrimination while travelling in the West.
“Kumar, I have experienced discrimination in every part of the West. I lived there for 16 years, travelled back and forth for another 25, and now I’m done,” Weerawarana wrote. He added that he no longer wished to travel there unless necessary.
Kumar Sangakkara replied: “It is quite jarring when you experience it @sanjiva.”
@sanjiva @Ryanair It is quite jarring when you experience it @sanjiva
— Kumar Sangakkara (@KumarSanga2) Otbr2,22
About the Author
