Sri Lanka Sports Minister asks police to investigate match-fixing allegations – Cricket update
Sri Lankan Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage on Monday has ordered police to investigate the match-fixing allegations levelled by former captain Hashan Tillakaratne.
The former cricketer revealed last week that corruption in Sri Lankan cricket exists since 1992 and also said that he will state the names of the players involved in it. “Match fixing is something which has been in this country over a period of time. This
has spread like a cancer today,” said Tillakaratne.
Following his statement, the Sports Minister said that Tillakaratne’s statement does not have any proof behind it. He also added that if the former cricketer is sure of the allegations he raised, then he should come forward with proof and provide them to
him in a written form. Negating the allegations, he also added that in his views, none of the Sri Lankan player has ever been involved in cricket corruption and they play for their country.
Aluthgamage further said that Tillakaratne’s statements were politically motivated because he was the part of the opposition and would talk on behalf of the politicians. Tillakaratne, who led Sri Lankan as a captain between April 2003 and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/March-c74391 2004, also
showed his doubts regarding the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup 2011 final against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 lost the final match to India by six wickets on April 2.
The veteran of 83 Tests and 200 One-Dayers said that there were fears of spreading the issue at various occasions but it was pushed down by bribes.
Sri Lanka’s ICC World Cup 2011 captain, Kumar Sangakkara, also opposed the statement given by Tillakaratne saying that he should prove his allegations. Sangakkara, who stepped down the captaincy following the World Cup, said that it was dangerous to blame
anyone for corruption. He also added that Tillakaratne should keenly work with the Anti-corruption and Security Unit of the ICC and Sri Lanka’s board to verify the claims with evidence.
On the other hand, former http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Rashid-Latif-c84084, backed Tillakaratne in taking steps to expose match-fixing.
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