Tamim Rahman, British national of Bangladesh origin and owner of Dambulla Thunders in Sri Lanka’s Premier League (LPL), was arrested on suspicion of corruption, police said, a day after a highly publicised player auction.
He was stopped and arrested at the Colombo international airport before he boarded a flight to Dubai by the special investigation unit of the sports ministry, police said.
He was arrested following a court order to detain him on suspicion of match fixing, police and immigration officials told AFP.
Rahman was remanded in custody till May 31 pending further investigations.
He was being investigated under two provisions of the sports act related to match fixing and attempting to organise betting.
A special police unit dealing with corruption in sports carried out the arrest, the first involving an official of the LPL tournament since it began four years ago.
Those convicted under the sports act face potential heavy fines and jail sentences of up to 10 years.
The Dambulla franchise was bought by Imperial Sports Group, led by Bangladeshi entrepreneurs, in April.
Recently, a court in Sri Lanka ordered Indian nationals Yoni Patel and P Akash to surrender their passports as both are set to be indicted for match-fixing in the unsanctioned Legends Cricket League in Colombo.
Patel owns a team in the unsanctioned legends league.
The two, who are currently out on bail, have been accused of trying to fix matches in the league, which was played between March 8 and 19 at Kandy’s Pallekele Stadium.
Sri Lanka became the first South Asian country to criminalise match-fixing and corruption in sports when it passed a law against the menace in 2019. Anyone found guilty can be jailed for up to 10 years and also be required to pay fines.
The law also seeks to punish acts of omission such as failure to report corrupt approaches.
On Tuesday, Rahman’s Dambulla team spent $450,000 to buy 24 players, including the most expensive foreign player, Afghanistan’s all rounder Karim Janat for $80,000.
The five-team LPL tournament will start on July 1 with the final on July 21.
(With inputs from Agencies)
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