Kumar Sangakkara accuses Ryanair staff of discrimination and threatening behaviour at Dublin Airport
Kumar Sangakkara has accused Ryanair personnel at Dublin Airport of discriminatory and threatening behaviour while travelling with his family, posting about the incident on X on Wednesday, October 28. The former Sri Lanka captain described the encounter as shocking and unacceptable.
The 48-year-old, a former wicketkeeper-batter, said he took to X to express his anger over the episode and to ask whether other passengers had experienced similar treatment from Ryanair staff in Dublin. He framed the event as a troubling departure from his expectations of airport procedures and interpersonal conduct.
In his post on X Sangakkara wrote: "Has anyone experienced discriminatory gate personnel @Ryanair in Dublin?" He added: "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."
Sangakkara did not disclose what triggered the confrontation or provide additional specifics about the sequence of events. His remarks emphasised his upset at the manner in which airline personnel addressed his family during the interaction.
The former Sri Lanka captain's post drew a response from Sanjiva Weerawarana, who recounted his own experiences of alleged discrimination while living and travelling in Western countries, writing: "Kumar, I have experienced discrimination in every part of the west. I lived there for 16 years, traveled back and forth for another 25 and now I'm done." Sangakkara replied to that message with: "It is quite jarring when you experience it @sanjiva," he wrote.
Sangakkara retired from international cricket in 2015 after representing Sri Lanka in 134 Tests, 404 ODIs and 56 T20Is. His Test career produced 12,400 runs including 38 centuries and 52 half-centuries, and he scored 14,234 ODI runs at an average of nearly 42 with 25 centuries and 93 half-centuries.
He was part of Sri Lanka sides that reached the 2007 and 2011 World Cup finals, finishing runners-up on both occasions, and has remained involved in the game as a coach, including serving as head coach of Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League; the franchise reached the final during his first tenure but lost to Gujarat Titans, while Rajasthan's 2026 campaign ended in Qualifier 2.
For now Sangakkara has not released further details about the alleged incident at Dublin Airport and Ryanair has yet to publicly respond to his claims.
