Sri Lanka First South Asian Nation To Criminalise Match Fixing And Sports Betting

Well, sports betting or fixing is no more a case, which falls under cheating sections, as Sri Lanka passed a bill saying that Sports Betting and Fixing is now equal to crime, which may give at least 10-year Jail for the individual. With that, Sri Lanka has become the first South Asian nation to criminalise several offences related to match-fixing as its parliament passed all three readings of a bill labelled “Prevention of Offences Related to Sports”.

If a person is found guilty of committing an offence related to corruption in sports, then he may find himself jailed for a term up to 10 years and he will also be required to pay various fines, ESPNcricinfo reported.

Arjun Ranatunga supports the new bill:

The newest legislation covers all sports and it is believed that the recent investigation by Anti Corruption Unit prompted this bill to be drafted. Sri Lanka’s Sports Minister Harin Fernando presented the bill in the parliament.

The former skipper Arjuna Ranatunga who is a now a cabinet minister supported the new legislation during parliamentary debates. Betting on sports matches hosted by Sri Lanka was already illegal. Under the new bill, betting on sports events around the world will be illegal as well.

The bill not only seeks to punish “any person related to a sport” who is directly involved in fixing, but also those who “provide…inside information”, curators who prepare playing surfaces to suit betting operators, and match officials who “deliberately misapply the rules” for money.

According to the bill, “acts of omission”, which includes failure to report corrupt approaches, are also criminalised. This means that Sri Lankan cricketers who are approached by potential corruptors may now have to report these approaches not only to the ICC’s Anti Corruption Unit but also to a Special Investigation Unit appointed by Sri Lanka’s government.

Earlier, players were required to report corrupt approaches to ICC’s ACU under ICC Code. Now, they are required to report these approaches to the Special Investigation Unit appointed by Sri Lanka’s government as well. It will come into the action after the next 10 days.