Match-fixing in cricket in Sri Lanka entered yet another phase when for the first time a serving official, none other than the team’s main player selector Upul Tharanga was ordered to be arrested by the High Court of Matale that added to a list of rampant cheating for financial returns in the sport.
Tharanga wore the Sri Lanka cap representing the country in 31 Test matches, 235 ODI games and 26 T20 matches and the arrest warrant was issued against him after he failed to appear in court to answer questions in connection with a case of match-fixing at a so-called Legends tournament in Kandy.
Match-fixing in Sri Lanka took a turn for the worst with the entry of the Lanka Premier League (LPL) that former Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe refused to sanction alleging it offered a sanctuary for shady activities.
Since then the LPL which was created and sold to a foreign investor has been embroiled in many a scandal ranging from player doping to team managers infiltrating player auctions to ensure their favourite players succeed at the bidding process.
An LPL team owner from Bangladesh was also arrested on charges of match-fixing and later remanded and over the past four years teams have come out under different owners with changed franchise names.
Test spin bowler Praveen Jayawickrema was last week banned by the International Cricket Council (ICC) over match-fixing involvement in the LPL after wicket-keeper batsman Niroshan Dickwella was banned for doping in the same tournament.
Teams and players don’t have to go all out to make an impact or win the LPL title as what matters most is that sponsors of teams will be happy as long as they can advertise their goods and services with the players and teams during the matches.
Cheated or gullible Sri Lankan cricket followers who patronize the matches see the occasion as some kind of an outing or entertainment or take pride in believing their country is matching up to the high profile Indian Premier League (IPL).
But the LPL was rocked further when former Sri Lanka player and team manager Charith Senanayake alleged at a packed Press conference in January this year that the tournament was putting lives at risk with some team officials connected to the illegal betting industry and wanted across the Palk Straits for questioning over subversive activities.
“People connected to the Mumbai bombings (of 2008) are having stakes in the LPL. They cannot even enter India. I have brought this to the notice of the Sports Ministry”, Senanayake alleged.
