No criminal proceedings against Sri Lanka officials in sex bribe

Colombo (Reuters): Three male officials have been identified in the sex bribe scandal that rocked Sri Lankan women’s cricket but there are no grounds or evidence to justify criminal proceedings against them, the country’s cricket board said on Thursday.

Sri Lanka’s sports ministry last week revealed an investigation had found that members of the national women’s team had been forced to perform sexual favours for officials in order to earn or keep their places in the squad.

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) said it has received the report which mentions cases of sexual harassments in 2013 and 2014 and much of it was corroborated in another report the board had separately commissioned.

“...both reports have concluded that, there have been a few incidents of sexual harassment which were committed by two male officials but that there was no evidence of any physical intimacy and that, there were no grounds to justify criminal proceedings,” the SLC said in a statement.

Both the reports also identified a third male official for “improper conduct” which did not amount to sexual harassment, the statement read.

“Sri Lanka Cricket wishes to state that, all three officials who were identified in the reports no longer function in their previous positions since their contracts were not renewed when they ended in April this year,” it added.

SLC said there were no allegations against any of the coaches or the selectors but admitted to flaws in its system and promised to rectify them.

“Sri Lanka Cricket is very concerned by the fact that, both reports have highlighted the unsatisfactory situation that prevailed in the selection and other aspects relating to women’s cricket and widely prevalent perceptions of favouritism and bias.”

Inquiry panel appointed to probe Sri Lanka Cricket administration

Minister of Tourism and Sports Navin Dissanayake has appointed a three-member panel to investigate alleged corruption in past cricket administrations.

The board of inquiry appointed by the Minister to probe the Sri Lanka Cricket administration commenced its sittings on Tuesday at the SLC Headquarters, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) said in a statement.

The panel has been appointed to probe, investigate, inquire and report on any corruption, abuse of power and authority by any office bearers and members of the former Executive Committee of Sri Lanka Cricket.

The three-member Board of Inquiry comprises Attorneys-at-Law Ravi Algama, Jaliya Bodinagoda and Waruna Mallawarachchi.

The next sittings of the BoI will be held at the National Olympic Committee.

The investigation report will be submitted to the Minister at the earliest, the SLC said.

In a move to eliminate alleged corruption and abuse of power in the cricket administration, the Sports Minister appointed an Interim Committee in late March to run the SLC. Minister Dissanayake appointed former Test opener Sidath Wettimuny to head the nine-member interim committee to run the cricket board until elections were held.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has said that there were corruption allegations against the cricket administration and those should be investigated before elections to appoint a new SLC board were held.

Former SLC members have promised their full support for the panel’s inquiry and work for the betterment of Sri Lanka Cricket.