Sri Lanka became tha first South Asian nation who has been criminalised several offences related to match-fixing in an attempt to stamp out the corruption scandals which have plagued the national team in the last few years. The Sri Lanka Parliament has passed a bill entitled “Prevention of Offences Related to Sports” where the offences related to corruption in sports will see someone in a prison for up to 10 years, as well as various fines, according to ESPNcricinfo. Sports Minister Harin Fernando has presented the bill in Parliament on Monday and former Sri Lanka captain Arjuna Ranatunga, who is now a Cabinet Minister has supported as well.
The bill will not only punish “any person related to a sport” who is directly involved in fixing, but also those who “provide…inside information”, curators who prepare the ground to suit betting operators, and match officials who “deliberately misapply the rules” for money. In addition, it is now also illegal for former players to provide corrupt figures access to the current players as well.
According to the bill, “acts of omission”, which includes failure to report corruption approaches, are also punished. This means that Sri Lankan cricketers who are approached by the bookies may now have to report these approaches not only to the ICC’s Anti Corruption Unit but also to a Special Investigation Unit appointed by Sri Lanka’s government.
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However, the bill will not become a law until the Act is gazetted, probably in the course of the next 10 days, it will be there. ACU of ICC has been investigating Sri Lanka’s cricket since 2017. Former Sri Lankan fast bowler Dilhara Lokuhettige was last year suspended for corruption in a limited-overs league in 2017.
Earlier, former captain, Sanath Jayasuriya was levelled in charges for violating ICC’s anti-corruption code and former pacer Nuwan Zoysa. Jayasuriya was faced a two-year ban for failing to co-operate with the ICC with a match-fixing probe, while Zoysa got a suspension for his alleged involvement in match-fixing as well.
