Kumar Sangakkara was boarding his flight home to Bristol when the incident occurred

Cricket icon Kumar Sangakkara has accused Ryanair of 'discriminatory and threatening behaviour' towards his family before boarding a jet home to Bristol.

The wicket keeper-batter and Sky Sports pundit was boarding the flight from Dublin to return home to Bristol, where he has resided since 2022.

Yet Kumar said he faced an "unacceptable" experience at the gate.

Posting on X, he said: "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."

The 49-year-old, regarded as one of the all-time international greats in cricket, added the experience was "jarring".

The post gained support from TV presenter Piers Morgan who wrote: "Rarely met a more decent, dignified man than Kumar.

"For him to say this, it must have been truly shameful behaviour. I hope you deal with this urgently & properly @Ryanair."

Sir Lankan businessman Sanjiva Weerawarana also chimed in on the post, stating he has suffered similar discrimination.

He wrote: "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."

In response, the former Sri Lankan captain penned back: "It is quite jarring when you experience it @sanjiva."

Ryanair has since issued a statement about the matter, The Mirror reports.

A spokesperson for the airline said: "This passenger refused to provide the required visa documentation when requested by a gate agent carrying out mandatory immigration checks.

"Following completion of these checks and verification of this passenger’s eligibility to travel, this passenger travelled on this scheduled flight from Dublin to Bristol (28 Oct)."