Lanka T10 team owner arrested on match-fixing charges

Prem Thakkur, the team owner of Galle Marvels in Lanka T10, has been arrested on match-fixing charges.

Thakkur was arrested on Thursday, a day after the tournament began, and was produced before the Colombo Magistrate’s Court on Friday; he has since been remanded till December 16.

Sri Lanka Police told ESPNcricinfo that Thakkur, an Indian national, had been arrested by the Sri Lanka Sports Police Unit under the 2019 Prevention of Offences Relating to Sports Act.

He was arrested at a hotel in Kandy, where the Lanka T10 tournament is underway.

It is understood that a foreign player had flagged a fixing approach made by Thakkur.

Like in the LPL earlier this year, a representative of the ICC anti-corruption unit is also in Sri Lanka to oversee the tournament at the request of Sri Lanka Cricket.

While SLC is yet to speak on the matter, Lanka T10 tournament director Samantha Dodanwela confirmed that the tournament “will go ahead as scheduled”.

This is the second franchise tournament in Sri Lanka this year in which a team owner has been arrested under the country’s sports anti-corruption ordinance after LPL franchise Dambulla Thunders’ co-owner Tamim Rahman was arrested in May on allegations of match-fixing.

In 2019, Sri Lanka became the first nation in South Asia to criminalise match-fixing, with offences related to corruption in sports carrying various fines and a prison term of up to ten years.

The Lanka T10 is Sri Lanka’s first foray into hosting a T10 franchise league, with the event rights for the tournament managed and operated by a consortium consisting of the Innovative Production Group, T Ten Sports Management and T Ten Global Sports, which also operates several other T10 franchise leagues across the world. (ESPNcricinfo)