IPL 2019 | Avishka Gunawardene charged with match-fixing in Dubai T10 League
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Former Sri Lanka batsman Avishka Gunawardene has been provisionally suspended with immediate effect on Friday after being charged with match-fixing by the International Cricket Council. The charges came in regard to some allegations regarding T10 League happened in Dubai in 2017.
Gunawardene has been slapped with two counts of breaching the Emirates Cricket Board's (ECB) anti-corruption code and after the ICC took stock of the proceedings, he has been provisionally suspended under the ECB code pending the determination of the charges. Gunawardene's charges came after his corruption work T10 tournament played in the United Arab Emirates in 2017, in which he was the head coach of “Team Sri Lanka”. Nuwan Zoysa, who was bowling coach on that trip, has also been charged with four counts of breaching the ECB's code.
However, as a matter of fact, Zoysa had already been charged with three counts of breaching the ICC's code in October last year. And where Zoysa had been sent on compulsory leave by SLC, Gunawardene had continued to work as the head coach of Sri Lanka's A team and, more recently, the Emerging Team. But after the ICC action, the board suspended him on Friday.
The charges against Gunawardene are as follows: i) Directly or indirectly soliciting, inducing, enticing, instructing, persuading, encouraging or intentionally facilitating any participant to breach [the anti-corruption] Code
ii) Failing to disclose to the Anti-Corruption Unit (without unnecessary delay) full details of any incident, fact, or matter that comes to the attention of a participant that may evidence corrupt conduct under the Anti-Corruption Code by another participant.
SLC CEO Ashley de Silva has stated that the board had not been aware of the fact that Gunawardene was about to be charged as the former batsman has been regarded as one of the best coaches within the Sri Lanka system, with the 'A' team having performed especially well under his watch.Â
