by

Champika Fernando

Sri Lanka Cricket has slapped a ten-year ban on umpire Sagara Gallage and three years on Maurice Winston for their role in a fixing scandal last year while the third accused Gamini Dissanayake will be severely warned and demoted.

The decision will effectively end the careers of the disgraced duo of Gallage and Winston.

The decision to ban them was taken at a special executive committee meeting held yesterday and based on the recommendations made by the disciplinary committee.

Dissanayake, Gallage and Winston were among six umpires caught in an undercover operation by an Indian television channel which showed them agreeing to commit irregular acts or provide inside information on the state of the pitch and toss in return for gains from bookies.

The Sri Lankan investigation was conducted on video evidence received from the International Cricket Council (ICC) by retired judge Sagara Kariyawasam who got the authenticity of the video evidence certified by Sri Lanka Cricket’s IT department.

Sri Lanka Cricket also appointed its legal advisor Palitha Kumarasinghe late last month to further evaluate the video footages to ensure its authenticity.

Winston was found to have agreed to provide information about teams, conditions and the toss 90 minutes before an England versus Australia match on September 17 last year in return for a payment of approximately £600.

Gallage was also found to have offered the same information before a warm-up match between Pakistan and India while agreeing to rule a Pakistani batsman not out during a Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL) match. Gamini Dissanayake was found to have agreed on favoring his country’s players in any format of the game in return for payment.
COURTESY:CEYLON TODAY