Former Galle cricket Ground curator Jayananda Warnaweera has been handed a 3 year ban by the International Cricket Council for failing to cooperate with the Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) in an ongoing investigation.
Warnaweera, who represented Sri Lanka in the Test arena for a brief period, had already been handed a two year suspension by Sri Lanka Cricket on the same charges last November.
Mr Warnaweera was charged with an offence under Article 2.4.6 of the ICC Anti-Corruption Code, which relates to “failing, without compelling justification, to cooperate with any reasonable investigation carried out by the ACU in relation to possible breaches of the Anti-Corruption Code, including failure to provide information and/or documentation requested by the ACU that may be relevant to such investigation”.
According to the ICC, Warnaweera has failed on two separate occasions to attend interviews conducted by the ACU with regard to an ongoing investigation and has also failed to provide documents required from him in connection with the investigation. Furthermore, he has also failed to respond in any manner to the charges laid against him and pursuant to Article 4.8.1 of the Code, he is consequently deemed to have accepted that he committed the offence charged, waived his right to a hearing, and acceded to the imposition of a sanction within the range specified in the Code.
Sir Ronnie Flanagan, Chairman of the Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU), made his stance on the decision crystal clear, saying, “The ICC has a zero-tolerance approach towards corruption and it will not hesitate in taking such decisions in its endeavor to eliminate this menace from the sport.”
Sri Lanka Cricket has been informed of this decision by the ICC.
