Three controversial Sri Lankan cricket umpires accused of spot fixing are likely to be banned after the Probe Committee that inquired into their conduct found them guilty on two of seven counts, Ceylon Today learns.
However Sri Lanka Cricket’s executive committee, which is in possession of the probe report and met yesterday, has put their final ruling on hold preferring to seek expert legal advice before deciding the fate of the trio.
Accordingly Sri Lanka Cricket’s legal adviser Palitha Kumarasinghe has been asked to ensure the authenticity of the video footages provided by the International Cricket Council.
Gamini Dissanayake, Sagara Gallage and Maurice Winston were among six umpires reportedly caught in an undercover operation by an Indian television channel which claimed they agreed to commit irregular acts or provide inside information on the state of the pitch and toss in return for gains from bookies.
Pakistan and Bangladesh had already banned their umpires caught in the fixing drama for periods ranging from four to 10 years.
The Sri Lankan investigation was conducted on video evidence received from the International Cricket Council (ICC) by retired judged Sagara Kariyawasam who got the authenticity of the video evidence certified by Sri Lanka Cricket’s IT department.
“We need to make sure that the video evidence was not tampered with. Once we clear this, we will take the next course of action,” a Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) official said.
Accordingly a decision is likely next week when the SLC top brass Jayantha Dharmadasa and Nishantha Ranatunga return from the ICC meeting in England.
Sri Lanka Cricket were to announce its ruling on the umpires in April but postponed it to end of May when lawyers representing the accused raised objections.
Winston is alleged to have agreed to provide information about teams, conditions and the toss 90 minutes before an England versus Australia match on September 17 last year in return for a payment of approximately £600.
Gallage is also alleged to have offered the same information before a warm-up match between Pakistan and India while agreeing to rule a Pakistani batsman not out during a Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL) match.
Gamini Dissanayake is alleged to have agreed on favoring his country’s players in any format of the game in return for payments.
