Sachithra Senanayake, a former Sri Lanka cricket international, is alleged to have been involved in match-fixing offences.
The top Sri Lanka cricket league, the Lanka Premier League (LPL), is where the alleged offences took place in 2020 after Senanayake attempted to involve players in a match-fixing scheme.
Senanayake, who was a first class cricketer and a pivotal member of Sri Lanka’s 2014 ICC World Twenty20 winning team side, was arrested on Wednesday and is due to appear in court over the 24 hours.
After an initial investigation was launched last month, a court enacted a travel ban on Senanayake and prevented him from using his passport.
He will also become the first ever person to be held under Sri Lanka’s Prevention of Offences Relating to Sports Act, which covers soliciting, persuading or instructing another person to influence a sporting event.
Should he be convicted, the former spin-bowler could serve a maximum of 10 years in jail, a fine of up to 100 million rupees or both.
Formal charges were yet to be filed, but it follows the strong push from Sri Lanka cricket officials and government figures to stamp out illegal practices in the sport.
Former sports minister Harin Fernando claimed that the International Cricket Council (ICC) told Sri Lanka that the nation was considered to be one of the world’s most corrupt cricketing countries.
Mahindananda Aluthgamage, another of Sri Lanka’s former sports ministers, also claimed in parliament two years ago that that match-fixing was a genuine problem across the country.
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