India offers Sri Lanka to assist in match-fixing, cheating inquiry in cricket

A Sri Lankan cabinet minister on Monday said India has offered to assist with its enquiry on match fixing in cricket and drafting laws to combat cheating in the game.

India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) could provide technical expertise in probing widespread allegations of corruption in cricket, said an official.

“We don’t have the expertise or the laws to deal with this problem in a proper manner. India promised to help us in drafting legislation too,” Sri Lanka’s Petroleum Minister Arjuna Ranatunga said after returning from New Delhi.

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Ranatunga said he requested the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for assistance to combat the global corruption in the game, of which Sri Lanka have been worst hit.

 “I made the request, and Prime Minister Modi immediately put me in touch with the CBI,” said Ranatunga, who also skippered Sri Lanka during their World Cup victory in 1996.

The CBI named Ranatunga and his deputy Aravinda de Silva in a match-fixing investigation in 2000 but the pair were cleared of any wrongdoing.

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Sri Lanka decided to establish a special police unit to investigate a match-fixing after a documentary aired by Al Jazeera in May 2018 alleged that rampant global corruption in the game continued to linger.

Galle groundsman Tharanga Indika and professional cricketer Tharindu Mendis allegedly speculated about fixing the pitch to ensure a result in under four days in the Test against England beginning in November 2018.

In addition, Sanath Jayasuriya, a member of the 1996 World Cup winning squad, is under investigation by the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) anti-corruption unit along with several others for not co-operating with a match-fixing probe and concealing information.

(With PTI inputs)