Former MP Harin Fernando has highlighted that the Prevention of Offences Relations to Sports Act which was passed in 2019 may not be applicable to an incident reported in 2011, but can be implemented over false accusations made in 2020.
“Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna’s Mahindananda Aluthgamage after knowing he faces a 3 year jail term for false accusations under the 2019 Sports Act now claims it cannot be investigated under the Act”,
“You might not be able to use the 2019 act for something that happened in 2011, but surely it can be used to punish for false accusations made in 2020” Fernando said via Twitter.
He made this observation in connection to the allegations of match-fixing raised by former Minister of Sports Mahindananda Aluthgame on the 2011 Cricket World Cup.
In June, Aluthgamage claimed that the match between Sri Lanka and India was fixed, prompting the Special Investigation Unit of the Ministry of Sports to launch an investigation.
However, after recording statements from Sri Lanka cricketers Aravinda de Silva, Upul Tharanga and Kumara Sangakkara, the SIU decided to conclude the investigation, claiming that there was no sufficient evidence to prove the 14- allegations raised by Aluthgamage.
Following the SIU’s decision to conclude investigations, Aluthgamage yesterday said that the Head of the SIU had informed him that the investigation cannot continue further based on the “Prevention of Offences Relations to Sports Act”, as it was passed in 2019 and the match-fixing claims were from 2011.
Aluthgamage blamed the police, stating that he requested President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to conduct an inquiry into the conduct of the police with regard to the investigation.