• Hesha wants two SLC officials arrested  

Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Hesha Withanage on Friday (24) said that IGP Deshabandu Tennakoon should order the CID to arrest Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) President Shammi Silva and Lanka Premier League (LPL) Director Samantha Dodanwela.

He said the two officials should be nabbed on charges of match-fixing and other acts of financial corruption linked to the popular T20 tournament which is due to commence this July.

Withanage further said that after arresting the two SLC officials, the IGP should instruct CID sleuths to probe the allegations against the duo, which were further underscored, according to him, in connection with the arrest of the owner of the Dambulla Thunders franchise on 22 May.

However, for their part, the two SLC officials flatly refuted the allegations directed against them by the lawmaker concerned via a media release. 

The owner of the aforesaid franchise, Tamim Rahman, a Bangladeshi national and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Imperial Sports Group, was apprehended at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) by officers from the Special Investigation Unit for the Prevention of Offences Relating to Sports attached to the Sports Ministry.

This was over allegations of match-fixing at the LPL Player Auction held in Colombo on 21 May. “I will have to say that SLC should be held accountable over the choice of owners for the LPL,” the MP, an outspoken critic of the game, told The Sunday Morning Sports.

“It is the responsibility of SLC to inquire in-depth into the history or the background of the owners who come forward to purchase a team or a franchise. Both Silva and Dodanwela cannot wash their hands off this episode.”

The Ratnapura District MP of the main Opposition further charged that the SLC President had blatantly tampered with the players and coaches list of the LPL Player Auction to grant undue favours to those from his domestic club.

He alleged that the modus operandi of the SLC President was to create a pathway to retain his vote base and thereby hold onto the reins of the game’s local governing body.

“If LTTE Leader Velupillai Prabhakaran was even alive today, he too would have bought a LPL franchise,” the MP said.

 “This is because they (SLC) do not look into credentials of the owners, and as shown by the arrest of this suspect, anyone with a shady background can easily seep into this racket. There is sufficient evidence to suggest that the LPL is replete with corruption.” 

The SJB MP added that the LPL had thus become a “veritable safe haven” for those in the betting industry and gamblers, and challenged SLC officials, if possible, to deny his charges with proof.

“There is CCTV camera footage and phone conversations SLC officials have had with owners of franchises on the eve of the Player Auction. That is why I say that the IGP should advise the CID to nab these two SLC officials and carry out an impartial probe into the charges directed against them.” 

He said the matter would also be raised by him in Parliament during the coming week and observed that he also intended to call for a two-day debate on it with the consent of the Speaker.

SLC prioritising sport’s integrity 

Meanwhile, SLC in its media release has reiterated that, as the sole controlling body for the sport in the country and the supreme authority organising the LPL since its start five years ago, it had consistently prioritised the integrity of the sport.

It said that towards this end, it had engaged the services of the International Cricket Council’s Anti-Corruption Unit (ICC-ACU) to oversee all anti-corruption measures for the LPL.

The release has emphasised that the recent LPL Player Auction had also been attended and monitored by ICC-ACU officers as part of their ongoing support towards the tournament, which they insist had been sanctioned and vetted by the Dubai-based world body.

SLC has stressed that it had been the officials from the ICC-ACU that had informed the Special Investigation Unit for the Prevention of Offences Relating to Sports about suspicious activities involving one of the owners of the Dambulla team.

Furthermore, SLC is of the view that it was this information that had resulted in the arrest of the suspect by local Police authorities.