New Delhi: Prem Thakur, the team owner of Galle Marvels in Lanka T10, has been arrested on charges of match-fixing. Thakur was arrested on Thursday, a day after the tournament began, and was produced before the Colombo Magistrate’s Court on Friday, since then he has been remanded until December 16.
According to ESPNcricinfo’s report, Sri Lankan police have told them that Indian citizen Prem Thakur has been arrested by the Sri Lanka Sports Police Unit under the Prevention of Sports-Related Offenses Act of 2019. He was arrested from a hotel in Kandy, where the Lanka T10 tournament is going on.
Prem Thakkur, the owner of Galle Marvels in the Lanka T10, has been arrested on match-fixing charges.
A foreign player had flagged a fixing approach made by Thakkur. This is the second franchise tournament in Sri Lanka this year in which a team owner has been arrested under the… pic.twitter.com/mIegTN2SZo
— M (@anngrypakiistan) December 13, 2024
A foreign player is believed to have flagged a fixing attempt by Thakur. Like the LPL earlier this year, a representative of the ICC’s Anti-Corruption Unit is also in Sri Lanka to oversee the tournament at the request of Sri Lanka Cricket.
While SLC is yet to comment on the matter, Lanka T10 tournament director Samantha Dodanwella has confirmed that the tournament will ‘go on as scheduled’.
This is the second franchise league in Sri Lanka this year in which a team owner has been arrested under the country’s Sports Anti-Corruption Ordinance after LPL team Dambulla Thunders co-owner Tamim Rahman was arrested in May on charges of match-fixing.
Prem Thakkur, the team owner of Galle Marvels in Lanka T10, has been arrested on match-fixing charges pic.twitter.com/NIxFrHB0kK
— Rohit Baliyan (@rohit_balyan) December 13, 2024
For information, let us tell you that in 2019, Sri Lanka became the first country in South Asia to declare match-fixing a crime. Which provides for various fines and up to 10 years of imprisonment for crimes related to corruption in sports.
The Lanka T10 is Sri Lanka’s first attempt at hosting a T10 franchise league, with the tournament’s organising rights managed and operated by a consortium of Innovative Production Group, T Ten Sports Management and T Ten Global Sports, which also operates several other T10 franchise leagues around the world.
