Sri Lankan spinner Praveen Jayawickrama has been charged with three violations of the ICC anti-corruption code, including failing to promptly report a match-fixing approach and tampering with evidence. The 25-year-old left-arm spinner allegedly did not inform the ICC’s Anti-Corruption Unit about approaches made to him regarding fixing international matches and games in the 2021 Lanka Premier League. The ICC revealed on Thursday that Jayawickrama reportedly deleted messages related to these corrupt approaches. The player has been given a 14-day period, starting from August 6, to respond to the charges.
Jayawickrama faces charges under Article 2.4.4 for not reporting to the ACU without unnecessary delay about an approach to fix future international matches. He also faces a similar charge under Article 2.4.4 for failing to report an approach to contact another player for fixing in the 2021 Lanka Premier League. Additionally, the cricketer has been accused of “obstructing the investigation” by deleting incriminating messages.
The ICC stated, “Article 2.4.7 – Obstructing the investigation by deleting messages in which the approaches and offers to engage in corrupt conduct were made.” The ICC also noted that Sri Lanka Cricket and the ICC have agreed that the ICC will handle the Lanka Premier League charge alongside the international match-fixing charges, as per Articles 1.7.4.1 and 1.8.1 of the Code.
