Sri Lanka call off World Cup 2011 final fixing probe after no evidence found

Sri Lanka Police has decided to end its investigation on the World Cup 2011 final played at the Wankhede. Former Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage had raised suspicion over the four changes made only for the final. Rather he had also claimed that the two last-minute changes to the squad were not approved by the Ministry too. However, the claim reportedly proved to be wrong.

As far as the investigations are concerned, the then chairman of selectors Aravinda de Silva, Mahela Jayawardene, Upul Tharanga and the skipper Kumar Sangakkara were questioned in the matter. Rather De Silva and Sangakkara were grilled for six and 10 hours respectively after which the protests started outside the SLC’s office.

However, the Special Investigation Division of the Police didn’t find any evidence and have decided to close the investigation now. They will now send report to the Ministery of Sports. “We will be sending a report to the Secretary, Ministry of Sports who directed us.

“We have concluded the investigation following an internal discussion held today. We see no reason why players must be further questioned,” Jagath Fonseka, police superintendent in charge of the special investigation unit said according to The Hindu.

Players adequately explained the reasons

Fonseka also cleared all the three players who were summoned for questioning satisfactorily explained the reasons for the changes in the team for the final. He also feels that there is no need to call the other players to question about the final. The investigation unit is also aware of the uproar among the fans ever since the probe into the concerned game has begun.

“We felt that summoning all players to give statements would create an unnecessary uproar,” Fonseka further added. Earlier, Jayawardene and Sangakkara had criticised Aluthgamage after he first claimed that the final was fixed. However, the former Sports Minister had later has changed his statement stating that the players weren’t involved in it but the game was fixed by ‘certain parties’.

But after the thorough investigation, Fonseka has concluded that the 14-point allegations levelled by Aluthgamage couldn’t be corrborated.