Sri Lankan bowling Coach Nuwan Zoysa suspended 6 years for match-fixing.
Former Sri Lankan sailor and coach Nuwan Zoysa was kicked out of all cricket for six years on Wednesday after being found guilty of trying to fix matches and not revealing corrupt approaches to a suspected Indian bookmaker.
The ban on Zoysa, a left-arm seamer, dates back to October 31, 2018, when it was provisionally suspended.
“In his role as national coach, he should have acted as a role model. Instead, he engaged with a corrupter and attempted to corrupt others, ”said Alex Marshall, General Manager of ICC’s Integrity Unit in a statement.
“Helping to fix a game betrays the foundation of sports principles. It will not be tolerated in our sport ”.
The 42-year-old, who played 30 tryouts and 95 ODIs for Sri Lanka, was originally charged in 2018 after his stint as Team Sri Lanka bowling coach at a T10 tournament hosted in the United Arab Emirates in 2017.
At its full trial, the ICC said that Zoysa was introduced to the Indian suspect in Colombo in 2017 during his time as bowling coach for the Sri Lanka Athletics.
After some interactions, the former bowler realized that the man, referred to as Mr. W in ICC documents, “was involved in fixing matches, or aspects of matches” and wanted to have Zoysa on board because, “as a coach, I knew players and getting them to fix matches.”
“At the request of (Mr. W), Mr. Zoysa approached (Player A) at the end of 2017 and asked him if, in relation to Sri Lanka’s upcoming series against Bangladesh and/or Zimbabwe, he would be willing to give away 12-15 run on
a change while bowling, or deliberately going out while batting, ”said the ICC ruling.
“Mr. Zoysa told (Player A) that he could get good money if he performed poorly this way. (Player A) immediately rejected that approach and told Mr. Zoysa that he would not agree to do that, ”he added.
After full hearings and arguments, the Court found Zoysa guilty of violating articles related to attempting to fix matches, tempting others to violate the code of conduct, and failing to report the approach of corrupt individuals.
Zoysa was also indicted by the ICC on behalf of the Emirates Cricket Board for violating three counts of its ECB Anti-Corruption Code for the T10 League and these proceedings are ongoing.
He had worked as a bowling coach for Sri Lanka’s A-team in the past.
Zoysa is the latest in a long line of Sri Lankan cricketers who have been banned by the ICC for corruption.
Earlier this month, former pacemaker Dilhara Lokuhettige was banned from all cricket for eight years after being found guilty of violating the ICC Anti-Corruption Code.
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