‘Guilty’ Zoysa claims ICC on a ‘witch-hunt’ against Sri Lanka
Nuwan Zoysa is the third Sri Lankan player found guilty by the ICC Anti-Corruption Unit
Faced with a possible sanction over allegations of match-fixing, former Sri Lanka fast bowler turned coach Nuwan Zoysa slammed his former employer Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) and Ministry of Sports for not backing up his attempt to prove the charges as false.
The 42-year-old has been accused of agreeing to introduce players to an Indian national to arrange match-fixing at a tournament in the United Arab Emirates. He had already been suspended since an investigation was launched in 2018.
However, the International Cricket Council announced on Thursday that an anti-corruption tribunal had found him guilty of three offences and that he would remain suspended until a punishment is announced.
“Until now I have taken all steps possible to challenge the ICC and prove my innocence,” Zoysa said in a statement, a day after ICC’s announcement. “We filed action at the Court of Appeal in Sri Lanka. We went before Court of Arbitration for Sports in Switzerland. We wrote to three different Sports Ministers and two different Presidents. We appealed to the Ministry of Sports under both Sports Law and newly enacted Prevention of Offences Relating to Sports Act. But I never received any assistance or back up from the Cricket Board or the Sports Ministry.”
Zoysa also blamed the ICC for announcing he was found guilty of corruption without informing him first.
“It was a shock. It is a fallacious and cheap gimmick by the ICC to perform such an act intentionally to tarnish my reputation and the reputation of my beloved country,” he said adding that his lawyers are exploring the possibilities of appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sports and the Supreme Court of UK. Zoysa is represented by Chrismal Warnasuriya.
Zoysa had been charged with “being party to an agreement or effort to fix or contrive or otherwise influence improperly the result, progress, conduct or other aspect of a match.”
He has also been charged by the ICC on behalf of the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) with breaching four counts of the ECB Anti-Corruption Code for Participants for the T10 League. Those proceedings are ongoing.
It has insisted that Zoysa was informed in line with usual practice and that the full judgement will be published when the tribunal confirms the sanction.
Zoysa’s lawyer, Warnasuriya said the ICC had been on a “witch hunt” against Sri Lanka and that five other players were under investigation.
“The ACU questioned Nuwan in English, a language he is not comfortable with, and did not allow him to speak in Sinhala. They wanted him to frame other players,” Warnasuriya said.
Zoysa, who played in 30 Tests and 95 one-day internationals before retiring in 2007, said he had been jobless since his suspension in October 2018.
Zoysa becomes the third former Sri Lanka player to be found guilty under the ICC’s anti-corruption code after Sanath Jayasuriya and Jayananda Warnaweera. Jayasuriya was banned for failing to co-operate with an Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) investigation in 2019 and Warnaweera was banned in 2016.