Former Sri Lanka spinner Sachithra Senanayake arrested over match-fixing allegations

Sachithra Senanayake (Pic: AFP)

Former Sri Lanka spinner Sachithra Senanayake was on Wednesday arrested over match-fixing accusations. This development comes three weeks after he was banned from traveling overseas by the court.

Senanayake (38), who played one Test, 49 ODIs and 24 T20 Internationals fir the island nation between 2012 and 2016, has been accused of trying to fix matches during the Lanka Premier League (LPL) in 2020.

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The Colombo Chief Magistrate's Court had ordered the Controller General of Immigration and Emigration to impose a travel ban which will be effective for a three-month period.

The Court was told today that the Attorney General's Department had been instructed by the Special Investigation Unit of the Sports Ministry to frame criminal charges against the former off-spinner.

The AG has ruled that sufficient materials have been found under the Prevention of Offences related to Sports Act No. 24 of 2019. The direction on framing criminal charges came following several rounds of discussions between the General Manager of International Cricket Council's (ICC) Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU), Alex Marshall, Sri Lankan cricket authorities, and the state attorneys representing the Attorney General.

It is alleged that Senanayake had approached two cricketers in the first edition of Lanka Premier League (LPL) in 2020 via telephone from Dubai to fix matches.

Senanayake's case will be the first since corruption in sports was made a punishable criminal offence in Sri Lanka under the Prevention of Offences related to Sports Act in 2019.

Sri Lanka became the first country in South Asia to introduce laws on sports related offences and corruption.

However the 38-year-old former cricketer, who has taken 78 international wickets in 73 white-ball matches for Sri Lanka, had initially denied all the allegations, terming them as baseless charges aimed at defaming him and his family.

(With agency inputs)