Former Sri Lanka cricketer Sachitra Senanayake has been banned from leaving the country following a probe against him on match-fixing charges. The 38-year-old has been accused of trying to fix matches during the Lanka Premier League (LPL) in 2020.
As per reports, the Chief Magistrate’s Court in Colombo has restricted the cricketer from travelling overseas for three months following the Attorney General’s (AG) directions to the Sports Ministry’s Special Investigation Unit (SIU) to press criminal charges against him. 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 the 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, who played one Test, 49 ODIs and 24 T20Is for Sri Lanka, had approached two cricketers in the first edition of the Lanka Premier League (LPL) in 2020 via telephone from Dubai to fix matches. His 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 the Sports Act in 2019.
However, Senanayake denied all the allegations, terming them as baseless charges aimed at defaming him and his family. The cricketer has also threatened to take legal action. He filed an anticipatory bail plea with the Colombo Magistrate in 2021 seeking protection from arrest, which was turned down.
Sri Lanka became the first country in South Asia to introduce laws on sports-related offences and corruption.
(With Agency Inputs)
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