COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s cricket board said on Wednesday it had invited the sport’s world governing body to investigate match-fixing allegations stemming from Pakistan’s July tour of the island nation.

The move comes weeks after opposition lawmaker Nalin Bandara claimed in parliament that the two-match Test series, drawn 1-1, had been fixed.

The board asked ICC’s anti-corruption chief Alex Marshall to visit Sri Lanka and investigate the accusation, which it said had caused “immense reputational damage”.

Sri Lanka Cricket was committed to the game’s integrity and believed an ICC probe was “the correct course of action to take in light of the recent allegations”, a board statement said.

Corruption allegations and infighting have plagued Sri Lanka’s national cricket team over the years.

Former sports minister Harin Fernando has said the ICC considered Sri Lanka one of the world’s most corrupt nations under its purview. One of his predecessors, Mahinda­nanda Aluthgamage, told parliament last year that match-fixing was rife in Sri Lanka.

The series against Pakistan was played at Galle during the height of Sri Lanka’s economic crisis this year, which saw months of political unrest, power cuts and nationwide fuel shortages.

Published in Dawn, November 24th, 2022

Opinion

Editorial

Mosquito season
10 Mar, 2025

Mosquito season

AS temperatures rise, the threat of dengue looms large over Pakistan. Its warning signs have already arrived. Dengue...
Reckless rhetoric
10 Mar, 2025

Reckless rhetoric

ONCE again, the Indian leadership gave in to their worst impulses, with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar...
Water scarcity
Updated 10 Mar, 2025

Water scarcity

The need to meet climate challenge is even greater when Pakistan is prone to multiple disastrous events at the same time.
Banning groups
Updated 09 Mar, 2025

Banning groups

The state’s approach of banning groups, and then letting them operate with new monikers, must be revisited.
Targeting students
09 Mar, 2025

Targeting students

THE Trump administration’s mission to ‘Make America Great Again’ is well underway, and, in true Trumpian ...
Torkham dispute
09 Mar, 2025

Torkham dispute

THE Torkham crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan has remained closed for two weeks, after a dispute over border...