The Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court has further extended the travel ban imposed on two Indian team managers over match-fixing allegations during the recent 2024 Legends Cricket Trophy in Sri Lanka.
According to Lankadeepa Newspaper, Colombo Chief Magistrate Prasanna Alwis on Tuesday further extended the travel ban until June 13, 2024.
The Chief Magistrate issued the order after taking up for consideration a request made by the Special Investigations Unit of the Sports Ministry to extend the travel ban for three months as they require more time to conduct their investigations into the allegations.
The travel ban that was imposed on Indian manager Yoni Patel and his assistant Pachalodia Akash on March 14, 2024, has thus been extended.
An investigation was launched after a retired Sri Lankan cricketer and a New Zealand cricketer had alleged that the two managers had approached them to fix matches during the Legends Cricket Tournament in Kandy.
Sri Lanka is the first South Asian nation to criminalize several offences related to match-fixing.
Offenders could face up to 10 years in jail and fines of up to $555,000 for match-fixing under laws introduced by Sports Minister Harin Fernando in 2019. (NewsWire)