Sri Lankan Board launches investigation into evidence against Sri Lankan players

The Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka (BCCSL) announced tonight that they have appointed a President?s Counsel, Mr Desmond Fernando, to look into questions arising from the recently published CBI report and advise the Board as to whether there is evidence that Board regulations have been violated.

Desmond Fernando - one of the top lawyers in Sri Lanka and a member of the BCCSL Code of Conduct Commission - has been given 30 days to examine any evidence of match fixing and report back to the BCCSL. The Board will then decide as to the best course of any action.

Thilanga Sumathipala, the President of the Board, announced that Perera has been given a mandate to obtain the assistance of any person, organisation, or institution that he so wishes, to make the report.

The decision to appoint Desmond Fernando followed the examination by the Board of a copy of the 162-page CBI report and a meeting with the BCCSL Code of Conduct Commission.

Asked as to why the BCCSL had not immediately launched a criminal enquiry, Sumathipala pointed out, ?that there are presently no provisions within the present constitution to deal with this matter and we have no jurisdiction to launch such an enquiry. However, the Executive Committee is of the view that the report be forwarded to the Sports Ministry for the appropriate action.?

Sumathipala announced that until players in question - Arjuna Ranatunga and Aravinda de Silva - have been proved guilty, the Board is unable to take action against them and will not prevent them from being selected for the forthcoming tour of Sri Lanka.

Questioned as to whether he was aware of any approaches having been made to Sri Lanka players in the past, he responded: ?Yes, there have been some instances in the past. The players have informed the tour management, and The Management has informed the Board. We are keen to examine The Management reports for at least the last ten years.?

When questioned as to whether he accepted Aravinda de Silva?s denial that he had been involved in fixing matches: ?It was shocking news when we first heard it. However, I must say, there appears to be credibility in the CBI organisation. To be frank, we are still trying to recover from the shocking news. We hope and pray these accusations are not true because these cricketers have done so wonderfully well for Sri Lankan cricket.?

He pointed out that, ?Whether the CBI report was factually correct or not was not his worry. We are just trying to do the right thing for the game.? He the went on: ?It hurts so much at the time and it is a painful exercise, but, maybe, in five years to come, the future of the game will have been protected.?