Jayasuriya clarifies his stance on ICC ban

The 1996 World Cup winner and the former chairman of selectors in Sri Lanka Cricket has been charged for breaching two counts of the ICC Anti-Corruption Code.

Jayasuriya said that the circumstances surrounding the alleged failure, on his part, to provide the sim card and iPhone to the ICC-ACU officials immediately on demand were very personal in nature.

After accepting the two-year sanction by the ICC, former Sri Lanka captain Sanath Jayasuriya clarified his stance on the ban.

The 1996 World Cup winner and the former chairman of selectors in Sri Lanka Cricket has been charged for breaching two counts of the ICC Anti-Corruption Code.

An ICC release said that Jayasuriya has been banned under Article 2.4.6 that states, “Failure or refusal, without compelling justification, to cooperate with any investigation carried out by the ACU, including failure to provide accurately and completely any information and/or documentation requested by the ACU as part of such investigation” and Article 2.4.7: “Obstructing or delaying any investigation that may be carried out by the ACU, including concealing, tampering with or destroying any documentation or other information that may be relevant to that investigation and/or that may be evidence or may lead to the discovery of evidence of corrupt conduct under the Anti-Corruption Code.”

READ| Jayasuriya banned from all forms of cricket for two years

“The purported finding of the ACU stems from an alleged failure, on my part, to cooperate with the investigation carried out by the ACU by not providing a sim card and an iPhone immediately on demand to the ICC-ACU officials. It is clear that there were no Corruption charges, Betting charges or Misuse of Inside Information Charges (Article 2.1, Article 2.2 and Article 2.3) levelled against me under the code,” Jayasuriya wrote as a message to his fans.

“After receiving the said Notice of Charge, I obtained legal advise and contemplated my response to the said charges. I was faced with two points; I could have either denied the said charges, in which case the said charges would have to be determined at a full hearing before Anti-Corruption Tribunal Constituted under the code or I could admit the charges in lieu of a hearing and face a sanction in the form of a period of ineligibility.

“The circumstances surrounding the alleged failure, on my part, to provide the sim card and iPhone to the ICC-ACU officials immediately on demand were very personal in nature and a full hearing before an Anti-Corruption Tribunal would have entailed an in-depth examination," he added.

Jayasuriya's full note