Former Sri Lanka cricketer Sachithra Senanayake booked on match-fixing charges

Senanayake had allegedly approached two cricketers in the first edition of the Lanka Premier League (LPL) in 2020 on the phone from Dubai to fix matches.

Colombo: Former Sri Lanka cricketer Sachithra Senanayake was arrested on Wednesday over match-fixing charges after he appeared before the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) of the Sports Ministry.

He will be produced before a court later in the day.

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Last month, the Colombo Magistrate issued an order banning the 38-year-old from traveling abroad for three months.

This was on a direction by the Attorney General’s (AG) to SIU to frame criminal charges against the former cricketer.

According to the charges, Senanayake had allegedly approached two cricketers in the first edition of the Lanka Premier League (LPL) in 2020 on the phone from Dubai to fix matches.

The former cricketer, who had taken 78 international wickets in 73 white-ball matches for Sri Lanka, has denied all the allegations claiming they were false and baseless.

An anticipatory bail filed before Colombo Magistrate by Senanayake against his arrest in 2021 was turned down.