ZCZC
BSP-18
SRILANKA-CRICKET-CORRUPTION-ICC
Sri Lankans with betting interests to be barred from cricket body
COLOMBO, Aug 22, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Sri Lankans involved in gambling
firms will be barred from the nation’s cricket governing body as officials
bid to eradicate match-fixing scandals that have dogged the sport, the
government said Thursday.
Sri Lankan cricket has been mired in corruption scandals in recent
years, including claims of match fixing ahead of an international Test
against England last year.
Sports Minister Harin Fernando said he was introducing regulations to
bring the country in line with International Cricket Council (ICC) provisions
that ban individuals with connections to gambling firms from being involved
in the sport’s administration.
“From now on, anyone who is involved in betting or has a close relative
involved in betting will not be able to hold office,” Fernando told reporters
in Colombo.
The changes appear aimed at the former president of Sri Lanka Cricket,
Thilanga Sumathipala, whose family owns a gambling business.
Sumathipala, a controversial businessman and politician, is an executive
committee member of Sri Lanka Cricket. He has repeatedly denied involvement
in the gambling side of the family business.
Fernando said earlier this year that the ICC considered Sri Lanka one of
the world’s most corrupt cricketing nations, adding the sport’s local
governance was riddled with graft “from top to bottom”.
In November, former Sri Lankan fast bowler Dilhara Lokuhettige was
suspended for corruption linked to a limited-over league in 2017.
He was the third Sri Lankan player charged for violating the ICC’s anti-
corruption code, following charges levelled against former captain and ex-
chief selector Sanath Jayasuriya, and former paceman Nuwan Zoysa.
Jayasuriya was found guilty of failing to cooperate with a match-fixing
probe and was banned for two years, while Zoysa was suspended over the match-
fixing accusations.
BSS/AFP/BZC/1830HRS