Daily Times

COLOMBO: Sri Lankan police “botched” an investigation into the 2011 cricket World Cup final which the country lost to India, a senior minister told parliament Tuesday, reviving an explosive match-fixing controversy. Mahindananda Aluthgamage, who was sports minister at the time, said he was “not satisfied” after the criminal investigation department dropped the case following allegations he made in June last year. “The CID took the investigation in the wrong direction of the players and found nothing,” Aluthgamage said in response to queries from the country’s political opposition. “They did not question any of the officials or the office bearers of the board. Had they done that, the outcome of the investigation would have been different. I said players were not involved. The management and officials knew what was happening, but their statements were not recorded.” Sri Lankan police questioned team captain Kumar Sangakkara for nine hours but said they found no evidence of match fixing by Sri Lankan players and dropped the case. The International Cricket Council (ICC) world governing body also said it had looked into the allegations and found no reason to doubt the 2011 result.