Match-fixing: Punishable by Sri Lankan laws?

Sri Lanka currently has no national criminal law provisions applied to corruption in sport, specifically match-fixing, according to the President of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL).

However, it cannot be said that no action can be taken regarding match-fixing, President’s Counsel Geoffrey Alagaratnam told Ada Derana.

He stated that it can come under the “cheating” offence under the Penal Code of Sri Lanka.

Mr Alagaratnam stated that he believes it will be very good if new legislation can be brought to curb match fixing in sports in Sri Lanka. 

The President of the Bar Association said that there is discussion with regard to drafting new laws specific to this offence and that the criminalization approaches of other countries to combat match-fixing will be examined and compared before they put forward for consideration here.

Sports Minister Dayasiri Jayasekara says that the government will bring a new law regarding match-fixing within another month or two.  

Meanwhile the President of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), Thilanga Sumathipala, says that existing laws are sufficient to punish those found guilty of match-fixing.