Ex-Sri Lanka cricket coaches facing anti-corruption charges

COLOMBO (Agencies): The Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) suspended a second Sri Lankan coach on Friday for breaching its anti-corruption code.

Avishka Gunawardene was charged with breaching two counts relating to the T10 League in the United Arab Emirates in December 2017. The charges against Gunawardene, the coach of Sri Lanka in the league, include failing to disclose any corrupt conduct to the anti-corruption unit (ACU).

Nuwan Zoysa, a bowling coach during the league, was suspended last October on three counts, and an additional charge was laid on Friday that relates to failing or refusing, without compelling justification, to cooperate with any investigation carried out by the ACU.

Both former Sri Lanka players have 14 days to respond to the charges.

According to a press release by the International Cricket Council (ICC), the governing body, on behalf of ECB, charged Zoysa for breaching four counts of the ECB Anti-Corruption Code for Participants for the T10 League (the ‘Code’) and Gunawardene for two counts.

The ICC was appointed by the ECB as the Designated Anti-Corruption Official for the purposes of the ECB’s Code for this tournament and as such are issuing these charges on the ECB’s behalf, added the press release.

The charges follow a recent amnesty to participants who had previously failed to report any information concerning corrupt conduct in Sri Lankan cricket.