Saliya Saman Banned for Five Years Over Abu Dhabi T10 League Corruption Scandal OR Sri Lankan Cricketer Saliya Saman Receives Five-Year Ban for Match-Fixing Attempts

Former Sri Lankan domestic cricketer Saliya has been banned from all cricket for five years after being found guilty of multiple breaches of the Emirates Cricket Board's (ECB) Anti-Corruption Code during the 2021 Abu Dhabi T10 League.

An independent ICC Anti-Corruption Tribunal, which conducted the hearing on the ECB's behalf, ruled that Saman was involved in attempts to corrupt matches in the tournament. The ICC, appointed as the Designated Anti-Corruption Official for the event, had disrupted these attempts.

Saman, one of eight people charged in September 2023, was found guilty of:

- Being party to an attempt to fix, contrive or improperly influence matches or aspects of matches in the 2021 Abu Dhabi T10 (Article 2.1.1)

- Offering a reward to another participant in exchange for engaging in corrupt conduct (Article 2.1.3)

- Soliciting, inducing or facilitating a participant to breach Article 2.1 of the Code (Article 2.1.4)

The ban, which follows the presentation of written and oral evidence to the Tribunal, has been backdated to 13 September 2023, the date on which Saman was provisionally suspended.