Kumar Sangakkara accuses Ryanair staff of discriminatory behaviour at Dublin airport

Former Sri Lanka cricket captain Kumar Sangakkara has raised concerns over his family’s treatment by Ryanair staff at Dublin Airport, alleging discriminatory conduct, procedural mishandling and threatening behaviour.

The 48-year-old shared his experience on X on Wednesday, October 28, asking whether other passengers had faced similar treatment from the airline’s gate personnel.

“Has anyone experienced discriminatory gate personnel @Ryanair in Dublin?” Sangakkara wrote. “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.”

He did not disclose what led to the confrontation or provide further details about the incident.

Tweet by Kumar Sangakkara

His post prompted fellow Sri Lankan Sanjiva Weerawarana to share his own account of alleged discrimination during years of living and travelling in Western countries.

“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,” Weerawarana wrote. He said his experiences had left him unwilling to travel to those countries unless he had to.

Responding to Weerawarana, Sangakkara acknowledged how unsettling such experiences could be. “It is quite jarring when you experience it @sanjiva.”