DUBAI: The International Cricket Council (ICC) charged former Sri Lanka international Dilhara Lokuhettige with three counts of breaching the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) Anti-Corruption Code on Tuesday. ECB is the apex governing body of cricket played throughout the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The charges on Lokuhettige relate to the first season of the T10 Cricket League that was played in the UAE last year. He has been provisionally suspended with immediate effect. The ICC was appointed by the ECB as the designated Anti-Corruption Official for the purposes of the ECB’s Code and as such is issuing this charge on the ECB’s behalf. The charges are as follows:
⦁ Article 2.1.1 – being party to an effort to fix or contrive or to otherwise influence improperly the result, progress, conduct, or other aspect(s) of a domestic match
⦁ Article 2.1.4 – directly soliciting, inducing, enticing or encouraging a player to breach Code Article 2.1.1
⦁ Article 2.4.4 – failure to disclose to the Designated Anti-Corruption Officer (without unnecessary delay) full details of any approaches or invitations he received to engage in corrupt conduct under the code.
Lokuhettige has been given till 27 November to respond to the charges. He becomes the third former Sri Lankan player in recent times to have been accused of corruption of some form, following ex-fast bowling coach Nuwan Zoysa and legendary batsman Sanath Jayasuriya.
The ICC has made it public about ramping up its level of investigations into malpractice in cricket in Sri Lanka, following spot fixing allegations in Al Jazeera’s hotly debated documentary ‘Cricket’s Match Fixers’.
