Sri Lankan cabinet minister Arjuna Ranatunga said on Monday that India have offered their assistance in the ongoing inquiries of match-fixing in cricket as well as in coming up with laws to curb the issue.
Sri Lanka’s Petroleum Minister Ranatunga said that India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) could help them understand the issue and in drafting legislation over it. “We don’t have the expertise or the laws to deal with this problem in a proper manner. India promised to help us in drafting legislation too,” Ranatunga said.
Ranatunga and his deputy Aravinda de Silva have been named by the CBI in a match-fixing investigation in 2000. They were later proved innocent.
Meanwhile, Galle groundsman Tharanga Indika and cricketer Tharindu Mendis have been suspended by the cricket board of Sri Lanka after an investigation that proved the two guilty of fixing the pitch to ensure match finishes before four days on the side’s tour to England. Coach Jeevantha Kulatunga was also suspended.
The International Cricket Council’s anti-corruption unit is also investigating a case against 1996 World Cup winning cricketer Sanath Jayasuriya, who has been charged for not cooperating with a match-fixing probe and concealing information.