Dambulla Thunders owner Tamim Rahman arrested for trying to fix LPL games, faces 10 years jail time: Report

Tamim Rahman, the owner of the Lanka Premier League (LPL) franchise Dambulla Thunders, has been arrested for his alleged involvement in match-fixing. 

He was nabbed by the officials just a day after the auction of the forthcoming Lanka Premier League. His arrest has been confirmed by an official from the Special Investigation Unit for the Prevention of Offenses Relating to Sports at the Sports Ministry.

Rahman, who is a British citizen of Bangladeshi origin, has been remanded to custody until May 31 pending further investigations. Earlier this year in April, Rahman was one of the Bangladeshi entrepreneurs who bought the Dambulla-based franchise through the Imperial Sports Group.

Tamim Rahman arrested:

The officials arrested Tamim Rahman on Wednesday (May 22). The Dambulla Thunders owner was arrested by the immigration officials at the Bandaranaike International Airport following a court order. While the news of his arrest has been confirmed by the officials, there is still little clarity over the charges against him.

Tamim Rahman was under investigation on charges related to match-fixing as well as betting. If found guilty, Rahman can be slapped with a heavy fine in addition to being jailed for up to 10 years. In 2019, Sri Lanka became the first country in South Asia to criminalize match-fixing and corruption in sports.

In recent times, the Sri Lankan authorities have taken several strict measures against those involved in corruption related to cricket. Recently, a Sri Lankan court ordered Indian nationals Yoni Patel and P Akash to surrender their passports as both are under investigation over for match-fixing in the unsanctioned Legends Cricket League in Colombo.

Patel and Akash have been accused of trying to fix matches in the league, which was played between March 8 and 19 at Kandy's Pallekele Stadium. Both of them are currently out on bail.

Talking about Dambulla Thunders, they spent $450,000 to sign up 24 players in the LPL auction held on Tuesday. They went all out for Matheesha Pathirana but eventually failed to sign him as Colombo Strikers secured his services through right to match card. Dambulla's most expensive player in the auction was Afghan allrounder Karim Janat. They paid $80,000 to secure his services for LPL 2024.