109Dambulla Thunders owner Tamim Rahman has been arrested at Katunayake Airport on charges of trying to fix matches in the Lanka Premier League (LPL).
It is noteworthy that he was arrested today (22) at the Katunayake Airport by the Special Investigation Unit for Prevention of Sports-related Crimes managed by the Sports Ministry.
Police said Tamim Rahman was arrested at the Bandaranaike International Airport under the Sports Ministry’s Prevention of Games-related Offenses Act, brought in in 2019.
Accordingly, the Colombo Magistrate’s Court has ordered Tamim Rahman to be remanded until May 31.
Following this, the management has taken steps to suspend the contract of Tambullai Thunders, one of the 5 teams participating in the LPL, with effect from the same.
Tamim Rahman is a British citizen of Bangladesh. Tamim Rahman’s Imperial Sports Group had bought the rights to Tambullai last April.
Although the allegations related to this have not been fully revealed, the police have initiated further investigations.
It is noteworthy that the players auction for the LPL 2024 series was held yesterday (21) in Colombo.
Notably, Sri Lanka was the first country in South Asia to criminalize match-fixing and corruption in sports.
A related law was enacted in 2019, punishable with imprisonment of up to 10 years and fines for those found guilty.
Under the Act, those who, despite not being involved in match-fixing, are approached by any match-fixer and fail to report it to the authorities will also be held guilty.
Meanwhile, it is noteworthy that Yoni Patel and B Akash, two Indians, were accused of match-fixing in the Legends Cricket League (LCL) recently held in Colombo.
Patel and Yoni, who tried to fix matches in the LCL held from March 08 to March 19, have now been released on bail. Patel is also the owner of a team in this league.
However, despite such confusion, the Lanka Premier League series will start on July 1st and end on July 21st.
Since its inception in 2018, the LPL has been delayed a few times due to issues with Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) administration amid various hiccups.
B-Love Kandy is the current defending champion of the LPL and won the title last year defeating Tambullai Aura in the final.
