COLOMBO: After a shocking disclosure that Sri Lanka had “sold the 2011 World Cup final” to India, the Sports Ministry said on Friday that it had launched an inquiry into match-fixing allegations with a Special Investigations Unit (SIU) to look into the matter.
It follows a statement by former Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage who said that Sri Lanka had deliberately lost the 2011 Cricket World Cup final to India for money.
“I tell you today that we sold the 2011 World Cup finals. In 2011, we were to win, but we sold the match. I feel I can talk about it now. I am not connecting players, but some sections were involved,” Aluthgamage said in an interview with Sirasa TV on Thursday.
Aluthgamage, who was the sports minister from 2010 to 2015, added that he “did not want to disclose” the plot at that time. He is currently the Minister for Renewable Energy and Power.
It led to the current Sports Minister, Dullas Alahapperuma, launching a full-scale inquiry after Sports Secretary K.D.S Ruwanchandra filed a complaint with the SIU to probe “malpractices in sports.”
The SIU has been instructed to submit the progress of its investigations once two weeks and asked to record Aluthgamage’s statement for case details as well.
The statement made global and local headlines on Thursday, causing severe embarrassment for Sri Lanka’s government. Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was the president of the country in 2011, has yet to comment on the topic.
However, former Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa said: “Making unsubstantiated wild allegations against Sri Lankan cricketers is another tactic adopted by inefficient politicians to obscure their own disastrous failures in government.”
He added that Kumar Sangakkara, who was the captain at the time, Mahela Jayawardana, and the rest of the “brave cricketers” who achieved a lot of success in 2011 should not be “falsely accused.”
“They deserve better treatment for the tremendous services they have rendered to our country,” Premadasa said.
Sangakkara, for his part, tweeted on Friday that Aluthgamage should take his “evidence” to the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the Anti-Corruption and Security Unit so that the claims can be “thoroughly investigated.”
He was joined by former MP Namal Rajapaksa – PM Rajapaksa’s eldest son – who urged the ICC to take “immediate action.”
“Accusations such as these tarnish the image of a sport that we all truly love! I implore the ICC and the Ministry of Sports to immediately take action on these accusations and hold an impartial investigation on the matter, based on this alleged evidence,” he said.
Other officials, however, called Aluthgamage out for making the “irresponsible” statement.
“Highly irresponsible statement, unbecoming from such a person,” Azath Salley, former Western Province Governor, told Arab News, adding that it was a “shame” to say that Sri Lanka had sold the final.
Meanwhile, former Sri Lanka cricketer and batting coach, Tilan Samaraweera, questioned the timing of the interview.
“Why couldn’t the person who was on the highest seat of sports then, .... Get this investigated by the ICC, then?” he tweeted on Friday.
Aluthgamage’s controversial interview follows the Sri Lankan Cricket Board saying earlier this month that the ICC was investigating three unnamed former players over alleged corruption practices.
In November last year, Sri Lanka introduced harsh penalties for match-fixing and tightened sports betting restrictions to stamp out graft, with another former Sports Minister Harin Fernando saying on Friday that a new act was also passed in parliament last year to punish offenders.
In 2018, former Sri Lankan fast bowler Dilhara Lokuhettige was suspended for corruption relating to a limited-overs league, making him the third Sri Lankan to be charged under the ICC anti-corruption code, in addition to former captain and ex-chief selector Sanath Jayasuriya, and former paceman Nuwan Zoysa.