Sri Lanka now a test case in battle against match-fixing
An Icc-led probe and tough new laws have helped rid the country of its tarnished reputation as a home for rigged cricket matches and corrupt officials
The last time England toured Sri Lanka the island was in the grip of a damaging match-fixing investigation. Now, 15 months later, Sri Lankan cricket is breathing again without the suffocating presence of fixers and criminals circling its players.
There were 22 live investigations into fixing in Sri Lanka when England won 3-0 in 2018, playing a team demoralised by the scandals tarnishing their game.
Before England arrived in November that year a documentary by Al Jazeera, Cricket’s Match Fixers, alleged the groundsman in Galle had promised to rig the pitch for the first Test. The Sri Lanka sports minister, Harin Fernando, was later told by the International Cricket Council it ranked the country’s cricket administration as “corrupt from top to bottom” and led a personal crusade to bring down its chairman with the help of an ICC investigation that relied on evidence from a bookie in Bristol.
Two years later there are no active investigations and such has been the force of the ICC’S pursuit of corruptors that it could even be said that Sri Lanka is a test case for how cricket can be rescued from the grip of corruption.
The ICC will not give Sri Lanka a complete bill of health. It can make no guarantees the fixers will not return as soon as the next T20 tournament springs up there, but believes it has weakened the hand of the corruptors, making future attempts much more risky. A bill called “Prevention of Offences
Locking up cricketers is a statement of intent, but organisers of fixing rings are the real criminals
Related to Sports” was passed in the Sri Lanka parliament in November, making fixing a criminal offence.
Cricket is the national sport of Sri Lanka and so much patriotic pride is wrapped up in the fortunes of the team. If that side, or the organisation behind it, is rotten, the public lose faith in their heroes.
Ultimately that can lead to voters’ dissatisfaction with politicians who turn a blind eye to corruption, so it is no wonder legislation passed unanimously as an election loomed.
The new law allows for a five-year prison term and $550,000 (£423,000) fine for trying to fix the result of a match, or part of a game (spot fixing).
Failing to report an approach from fixers is a criminal offence, along with making false accusations. The law will punish anyone involved in fixing, such as groundsmen who provide pitch information and match officials who “deliberately misapply the rules” in return for payment. It is also illegal for former players to provide fixers with access to current players, which is almost always the route corruptors take.
Colombo police last month set up a task force to examine corruption in sport. The ICC has held two meetings in the past couple of weeks with the superintendent in charge, passing on details of its two-year investigation and leaving some nervous people in Sri Lanka expecting a knock on the door.
Locking up cricketers is a high-profile statement of intent, and a sign that nobody is above the law. But those organising the fixing rings are the real criminals.
Making fixing a criminal offence strengthens the ICC’S hand. It can identify the people sniffing around players and pass their details to local police, who have greater powers of investigation.
The level of corruption was deep and expansive in Sri Lanka. It involved honey traps and players bribed with gifts and money. Some were too frightened to come forward, fearing physical threats.
At one time or another the ICC believes the chairman of selectors, the chairman of the board and coaches at the national academy were involved to varying degrees. Imagine being a young cricketer trying to turn down approaches from corruptors who can break your career.
The ICC declared an amnesty to persuade frightened players to come forward, promising them they would not be punished for failing to report previous approaches from fixers. That led to more valuable information that has been passed on to police.
Sanath Jayasuriya was the most high-profile individual brought down. The former batsman and World Cup winner was banned for two years for offences linked to when he was chairman of selectors and Sri Lanka lost an ODI series at home to Zimbabwe. The ICC also charged former Test playersturned-coaches Nuwan Zoysa and Avishka Gunawardene and the national team’s performance analyst, Sanath Jayasundara, was charged when he was accused of trying to bribe the sports minister to help him fix games. Jayasuriya has accepted his ban; the others are appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Even the country’s anticorruption officer was replaced with two new investigators vetted by the governing body.
Jayasuriya was the big name in cricket to fall, but it is the demise of the board’s chairman, Thilanga Sumathipala, that gives hope that even the most powerful can be cut down with government support.
Not long ago Sumathipala, a politician himself, harboured ambitions to become chairman of the ICC. Now he is facing potential criminal charges after the ICC investigation alleged links with the gambling industry in Sri Lanka, which is perhaps inevitable given his family runs a bookmaking company, and allegations over kickbacks for television deals.
Sumathipala has always insisted that while his family has interests in the betting industry, owning the Sporting Star shops all over the island, he is not involved personally.
But the former sports minister, Fernando, took to heart the ICC’S opinion that the country’s board was “corrupt from top to bottom” and went after the man at the top. A 900-page report was compiled, which included 12 pages of evidence from the ICC that alleged he was directly involved in the gambling industry. Fernando held a press conference to make his accusations public.
The ICC leant on the help of a former bookmaker friend in Bristol who provided bank statements and what is alleged to be evidence of payments to help Sumathipala set up his gambling firm and alleged a kickback of $100,000 for TV rights to Sri Lankan cricket in 1997, money Sumathipala is said to have used to pay bills for his Sporting Star company.
Sumathipala denies the charges and is fighting his ban from office in court. He has been sacked three times before for alleged financial misappropriation, but successfully fought off the charges, so he is not finished yet. No country can be declared clear of fixing. But the game in Sri Lanka is much safer. For now at least.