Sri Lanka passes the bill criminalizing match-fixing and betting:

Sri Lanka passes the law which criminalizes match-fixing and gambling. The new rules ban citizens from gambling on any overseas contest while gambling inside Sri Lanka on sports was already illegal. Anyone who is found guilty of match-fixing or any form of gambling can face up to 10 years in jail and potential fines reaching LKR 100 million which is approximately USD 555,000. Sri Lanka will also ban anyone with family links to any sort of gambling businesses from being appointed on any position on the sport’s local governing body according to the new bill.

Recent match-fixing and corruption issues in Sri Lanka:

The bill was passed in an attempt to eliminate the corruption scandals that have been on Sri Lanka’s neck for the past few years. Former Sri Lankan pacer Dilhara Lokuhettige was suspended because of corruption under the International Cricket Council’s Anti-Corruption Code. Sri Lanka’s star cricketer and former captain Sanath Jayasuriya was also banned for two years from all cricket-related activities since February 2019. Former fast bowler and bowling coach Nuwan Zoysa was also suspended due to alleged involvement in match-fixing in a T10 league last year in December.

The new Sri Lankan sports minister Harin Fernando said that the International Cricket Council (ICC) has declared Sri Lanka as one of the world’s most corrupted cricket playing nations. Former president of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) was recently banned from his position because his family owned a gambling business, however, he denied all sorts of involvement in his family’s gambling business.

Harin Fernando also said after the law was passed by the parliament on November 11 that many people tried to prevent this piece of legislation but he is happy that it was taken up today.