Colombo, Sept 28 (newsin.asia) – The International Cricket Council (ICC) has launched an investigation in Sri Lanka following accusations that some of the country’s national cricket players were involved in match fixing, local media reported Sunday.
Three members of the ICC’s Anti Corruption Unit have arrived in the country to meet senior cricket officials and speak to the national cricket players.
“The ICC Anti-Corruption Unit works to uphold integrity in cricket and this includes conducting investigations where there are reasonable grounds to do so,” ICC General Manager, ACU, Alex Marshall said in a statement.
“There is currently an ICC (ACU) investigation underway in Sri Lanka.”
The investigators, on Saturday, addressed Sri Lanka’s national cricketers during a training session ahead of the team’s UAE tour which begins on Sept 28, according to local media.
The players were advised to exercise caution in all their dealings.
The ICC investigation comes come amidst an uproar by the cricketers who last week called for an immediate inquiry in to certain ‘shocking’ allegations made by former Sri Lanka cricketer and selector, Pramodhya Wickramasingha, about unnatural and mysterious match patterns.
The cricketers, in a petition signed by all including both captains Dinesh Chandimal and Upul Tharanga to Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), said they were shocked by the statements made by Wickremasinghe to a private television station and urged for an immediate probe.
“They have refuted the allegations as totally baseless,” Sri Lanka Cricket said in a statement.
The players have further challenged Wickremasinghe to prove his allegations.
Cricket is the most popular sport in Sri Lanka, avidly followed by the 20 million population.
