The Bangladesh-born former franchise owner was sentenced to 4 years in jail in a match-fixing case. Bangladesh-born team owner and British citizen Tamim Rahman tried to influence a player to fix a match in 2024.
Rahman was the owner of a team in Sri Lanka’s own cricket franchise tournament, the Lanka Premier League (LPL). He was the owner of ‘Dambulla Thunders’.
Why was the Bangladesh born man found guilty?
On January 28, the Colombo High Court imposed a fine of Rs 20,000. The accused was fined ₹24 million and given a suspended prison sentence. He was sentenced to four years’ rigorous imprisonment, with the sentence suspended for 5 years.
On May 22, 2024, Rahman was arrested from the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) in Katunayake. The Special Investigation Unit of the Sports Ministry had arrested the Bangladesh-born player on charges of match fixing. Since then, the former franchise owner has remained under the judicial system.
In November last year, he was produced before the court under the Prevention of Sports-related Offenses Act. He was accused of influencing a cricketer who was a part of the league in 2024.
The cricketer informed the higher authority about this
The cricketer with whom Tamil Rahman was in contact during LPL 2024 informed the higher authorities about the matter. By then Sri Lanka had formed a separate institution to avoid any kind of corruption in the country.
Rehman was caught by the Special Investigation Unit at the airport while trying to leave the country. At a previous hearing, Rahman pleaded guilty to the charges, but skipped bail after being granted bail. The hearing process and the stance taken by the court are considered milestones for Sri Lanka, especially for Sri Lankan sports.
Through this decision the authority made its position clear against corruption in sports. According to media reports, when the case was first put up for hearing before Colombo High Court Judge Udesh Ranatunga, Presidential Counsel Kalinga Indatissa, appearing for the defendant, informed the court that his client is ready to conclude the case expeditiously and has submitted facts in this regard to the Attorney General.
Accordingly, when the matter was taken up today, the defendant informed the court that he would plead guilty to the relevant charges. The judge imposed the above punishment on him.
A Pakistani citizen is also involved in this case
According to a report published by Times of India, the Bangladesh-born man was detained at Colombo airport while attempting to board a flight to Dubai and spent several weeks in custody before being released on bail.
The court official said an arrest warrant has been issued for team manager Mujeeb ur Rehman, a Pakistani national, who is also an accused in the case.
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