ICC commends Harin Fernando

(File) Harin Fernando greets Steve Richardson, an investigator from the ICC’s Anti Corruption Unit.

The International Cricket Council has commended the efforts of former Sports Minister Harin Fernando to tackle corruption in cricket.

Sri Lankan cricket’s reputation hit a low point three years ago when the ICC opened up a record number of investigations after Scotland Yard’s chief Alex Marshall assumed duties as head of the Anti Corruption Unit. Several Sri Lankans were suspended following these investigations.

The Yahapalana government barely did any progressive work during their five years but making corruption in sports a criminal offense is a feather in their cap.

Yahapalana government had four Sports Ministers – Navin Dissanayake, Dayasiri Jayasekara, Faizer Mustapha and Harin Fernando.

The last stretch was run by Fernando, who despite not having much time pushed hard to bring legislation in Parliament making corruption in sports a crime where corruptors could end up in jail.

Thus, Sri Lanka became the first Asian nation to legalize corruption in sports a punishable offense.

There were concerns after the ICC opened up a record number of investigations on Sri Lanka but the efforts taken by the government earned applause of the sport’s governing body.

Steve Richardson one of the lead investigators of the Anti Corruption Unit of ICC was stationed in Colombo for several months to help SLC address the issue and train individuals to take over a local unit to probe corruption.

It was Richardson who commended the efforts of Fernando in Twitter. “Good to see Namal Rajapaksa commit to corruption free sport in Sri Lanka,” Richardson wrote. “If he can achieve that he will deserve the same credit as Harin Fernando with all what he did. I wish him well with it,” Richardson added.

This was in response to a tweet by young Rajapaksa that he intended to uphold the vision set out in the manifesto and ensure the positive growth in all areas of sports.