ICC probes are ongoing says former Lankan anti-corruption head
View(s):
Former SLC Anti-Corruption Unit boss, Lakshman de Silva, stressing a point - Pic by Sameera Weerasekara
In the few seconds that is remaining, till the red turns to green in the inter-section, everyday I reflect on these certainties of life. Because, if you do not look sharp, you may be a victim of circumstances yourself.
During one such moment, suddenly, my cellular began to ring the hell out of my concentration, and I had to pull the car towards the curb, and a familiar voice said, “This is Lakshman here. I would like to have a chat with you”.
Then, what followed was quite similar to what transpired in my thoughts not so long ago. Lakshman de Silva, the man who was in-charge of the anti-corruption unit of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), has decided to part ways with the establishments and he explains to me how he had become a victim of circumstances.
The Sunday Times inquired from him under what circumstances it occurred and what led to this sudden decision.
De Silva explained, “My decision to leave the organisation did not have anything to do with the ICC, but some other misunderstandings I had with SLC itself. I had been the head of the Sri Lanka Anti-Corruption Unit for about five years, since the last T-20 World Cricket Championships held in 2012. However, last September/October, the changes began to occur. Suddenly, another officer was appointed and I was asked to hand over my duties to him. Likewise, I trained him and imparted some of my knowledge on the subject to him. Then, when my renewal came up, I found that my duties had changed, with additional duties such as man-in-charge of security and inquiries. Besides that, surprisingly, I was also appointed man-in-charge of anti-corruption, local.
“I was not happy about this sudden change of attitude. Thereafter, I put up a note and also met the SLC President, and pointed out it was not proper to divide the anti-corruption unit, because it was not anywhere in the ICC World of cricket and, as a result, there may be a conflict of interest. At the same time, the ICC also may not like this move, because anti-corruption is international and there is no local section to it. So, I requested that the status quo remain. So, when it did not change, I thought the best thing is to move on.”
De Silva said that, during the five years he was in charge of the Sri Lanka Anti-Corruption Unit, he conducted many workshops, other than his day-to-day activities such as educating the cricketers from Under-15 to national level, about the repercussions of being engaged in corrupt practices. He also had special mention from the ICC once, when he organised the very first workshop on anti-corruption, to parents of players. He said, besides that, others who came under his purview of activity were club players and officials, stadium staff, scorers and umpires.
“There, I had to explain the laws and regulations and the repercussions. In short, keep them abreast with matters pertaining to that sphere of activity. There are many bookies and gamblers that come to Sri Lanka; so my duty is to safeguard our section from these unscrupulous personnel. They are always on the lookout for the slightest opportunity to fix matches.”
When asked if he was aware of such activity having taken place, de Silva said that, from the Asian region, Sri Lanka had the least amount of such activity, with no negative reports coming up so far. “Yet, we are aware there have been some attempts to get some people involved. I am sure these are agents of international bookies.”
At that point we inquired from de Silva whether he was aware that, late last year, there were several visits made to Sri Lanka by the ICC anti-corruption unit. De Silva replied, “Yes, in 2017, on three occasions. a very high powered delegation of the ICC anti-corruption unit visited Sri Lanka, and made some investigations.
“Then, at the latter stages of 2017, there were several allegations made against SLC by so many people, which even included some government ministers, media, gossip-sites and may be some written submissions. Yes, they were here. Gambling was one of the aspects pursued – open gambling, but they were not aiming at one specific case or individual. What they were trying to find out was whether any players or officials had connections with gambling.”
When asked if these investigations were still on, de Silva said that, to his knowledge, they are still on. When asked recently, SLC made a statement to the effect that the investigations were concluded. Only to be corrected by the ICC, saying they are on.
We asked him, “Were you a part of it?”
De Silva said he did not play any role in that incident.
Then, we asked de Silva about the surprise move. Why change the person from his post, when there is an ongoing investigation? “I am also very surprised. I was the head of anti-corruption and built it to that level on my own. Suddenly, I was moved from that position.”
Then, when we asked if it was because someone got cold feet, de Silva said, “I cannot see any other reason to think of, because I had a lot of communications with the ICC on various matters.”
However, finally, de Silva said the ICC would never say it has closed a certain case. He said, “When a case is opened, it remains an open case and additions made to it, if and when necessary, till they feel it is complete, and they could close the file with a plausible solution.”