Former Sri Lankan Test players Nuwan Zoysa and Avishka Gunawardene were slapped with corruption charges and given two weeks to respond, the International Cricket Council announced on Friday.
The charges relate to the T10 league played in the UAE in December.
Zoysa was charged under four counts, including for “being a party to an agreement to influence improperly the result, progress, conduct or other aspects of a match”. The ICC charged Gunawardene on two counts – one for soliciting a match-fixing breach and the other for failing to inform the ICC Anti-Corruption Unit.
It’s the latest in a long list of match-fixing controversies to hit Sri Lanka in recent months. Three months ago, the ICC banned Sri Lanka’s former skipper and selector Sanath Jayasuriya from all forms of the game for two years for failing to cooperate with anti-corruption investigations.
Also last month, former pacer Dilhara Lokuhettige was suspended over three match corruption accusations.
In December, Sri Lanka’s sports minister Harin Fernando said the country has been rated as ‘the most corrupt cricket nation’ by the ICC.
