Former Sri Lanka offspinner Sachithra Senanayake has been arrested by Sri Lanka Police on Wednesday, on charges related to match-fixing. According to the police’s media division, he is due to be produced in court in the next 24 hours. Senanayake, 38, is alleged to have attempted to convince players to fix in the 2020 Lanka Premier League.
The arrest was made under the Prevention of Offences Relating to Sports Act, which was introduced in 2019. Under this law, “any person who solicits, entices, persuades, or instructs any person… to influence the result, progress, conduct … of any sport, commits the offence of corruption in sports”. This is the first arrest made under this act.