itstargetnews
A Bangladeshi-born former team owner has been sentenced to four years in prison in a match-fixing case. Bangladeshi-born team owner Tamim Rahman, a British citizen, tried to influence a player to fix a match in 2024.
Rahman is the owner of a team in Sri Lanka’s own cricket franchise, the Sri Lanka Premier League (LPL). He is the owner of “Dambulla Thunder”.
Why are Bangladeshi-born people convicted?
On January 28, the Colombo High Court imposed a fine of Rs. The defendant was sentenced to a suspended sentence of 24 million. He was sentenced to four years in prison, suspended for five years.
Your daily dose of cricket!
Back on May 22, 2024, Rahman was arrested at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) in Katunayake. The Sports Ministry’s Special Investigation Team arrested the Bangladeshi-born man on suspicion of match-fixing. Thereafter, the former franchise owner remains subject to the judicial system.
He was produced in court under the Prevention of Sports-Related Offenses Act in November last year. He was accused of influencing a 2024 cricketer.
Cricketers informed higher authorities
The cricketers who Tamil Rahman came in contact with during LPL 2024 informed the higher authorities about the matter. By that time, Sri Lanka had set up a separate agency just to avoid any kind of corruption in the country.
Rahman was captured by the Special Investigation Team at the airport while trying to leave the country. At a previous hearing, Rahman admitted the charges but continued to skip bail after being granted bail. The hearing process and the position taken by the court is considered a milestone for Sri Lanka and Sri Lankan sports in particular.
With this verdict, the authorities have made clear their stance against corruption in sports. According to media reports, when the case was heard before Colombo High Court Judge Udesh Ranatunga, Presidential Legal Adviser Kalinga Indatissa, who appeared for the defense, told the court that his client was prepared to conclude the case quickly and submitted facts in this regard to the Attorney General.
Therefore, when the case was heard today, the defendant informed the court that he would plead guilty to the relevant charges. The judge sentenced him.
A Pakistani national is also involved in the case
The Bangladeshi-born man was detained at Colombo airport while trying to board a flight to Dubai and was held in custody for several weeks before being released on bail, The Times of India reported.
Court officials said an arrest warrant had been issued for Pakistani team manager Mujeeb Ur Rehman, who was also charged in the case.
