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By Chathuri Dissanayake and Madushka Balasuriya
The long-running saga involving the Panadura Sports Club and Kalutara Physical Culture Club took another turn yesterday, after Sports Minister Dayasiri Jayasekara announced that he would appoint a fresh committee to investigate allegations against its players.
The players of both clubs were handed bans after they were charged with breaching the spirit of the game in a tier B first class match in January. The Minister stated that the new inquiry will investigate both players and club officials.
“I am not satisfied with the decision. Match-fixing cannot be done by the players alone, Chamara Silva has given an affidavit already, and all the players are now ready to give their account of the incident,” the Minister told the media at the weekly Cabinet press briefing.
“The decision could have been different had the players been represented by lawyers individually,” he added.
When handing out the initial bans, SLC had said that the incident was not considered match-fixing as no money has exchanged hands, but had instead charged the players involved for “breaching the spirit of the game”. Panadura Captain Silva and Kalutara Captain Manoj Deshapriya have been slapped with two-year bans from all cricket-related activities while their teammates were each banned for one year.
Jayasekara made the decision after Silva, in his affidavit, had claimed that the players had not been represented by their own lawyers during the inquiry by the independent committee appointed by Sri Lanka Cricket. SLC on an earlier occasion maintained that all of the players were summoned on numerous occasions to provide testimony both orally and in writing, with only a few taking the opportunity. This was contested in Silva’s affidavit, in which he says he was never summoned to appear before the committee and the lawyers that spoke to the committee were only appearing on behalf of Panadura SC, not its players.
“The affidavit given to me by Chamara gives an account of what happened that day. He said he was not able to have a lawyer represent him at the inquiry; they have had only the club lawyers. Every person should have a lawyer. So I am going to appoint a committee of possibly two members to inquire into the matter as soon as possible,” the Minister told Daily FT.
Jayasekara emphasised that both players and club officials will be subject to the new inquiry. In the previous inquiry, club officials were not subject to investigation as the committee felt there was no reason to do so, as no charges had been laid against them. The committee noted that the complaints received were only against the players.
The Minister assured that action will be taken regardless of the position held by the individuals responsible. When pressed on whether he would take action against any SLC officials who may be found guilty of the charges, Jayasekara guaranteed that no official would be treated differently.
“They are not above the law; it has to be equal to everyone, even officials of SLC. The ministry will hold an independent inquiry. The players can give evidence with their lawyers. If the accusations are proven, regardless of their position I will take action against them. They are destroying the game and bringing disrepute to the President of SLC [Thilanga Sumathipala] and me. They will be dealt with,” he said.
The SLC on Monday had announced a three-member committee to consider the appeals of the two clubs. However, Panadura’s players, through their lawyer, refused to accept the club’s representation and had called for a fresh inquiry.
