Sri Lanka Cricket sack three officials over sex bribe scandal

Three male officials have been identified in the sex bribe scandal that rocked Sri Lankan women's cricket but there are no grounds or evidence to justify criminal proceedings against them, the country's cricket board said on Thursday.

Sri Lankan cricket's governing body on Wednesday announced the sacking of three officials after allegations that members of the women's national team were asked to perform sexual favours to keep their places.

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) said all three officials were shown the door at the end of their contracts last month after an internal inquiry found two of them guilty of sexual harassment and a third of improper conduct.

Sri Lanka's sports ministry last week revealed an investigation had found that members of the national women's team had been forced to perform sexual favours for officials in order to earn or keep their places in the squad.

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) said it has received the report which mentions cases of sexual harassments in 2013 and 2014 and much of it was corroborated in another report the board had separately commissioned.

"...both reports have concluded that, there have been a few incidents of sexual harassment which were committed by two male officials but that there was no evidence of any physical intimacy and that, there were no grounds to justify criminal proceedings," the SLC said in a statement.

Both the reports also identified a third male official for "improper conduct" which did not amount to sexual harassment, the statement read.

"Sri Lanka Cricket wishes to state that, all three officials who were identified in the reports no longer function in their previous positions since their contracts were not renewed when they ended in April this year," it added.

SLC said there were no allegations against any of the coaches or the selectors but admitted to flaws in its system and promised to rectify them.

"Sri Lanka Cricket is very concerned by the fact that, both reports have highlighted the unsatisfactory situation that prevailed in the selection and other aspects relating to women's cricket and widely prevalent perceptions of favouritism and bias." 

Sri Lanka's sports ministry said at the weekend that criminal prosecutions would follow after its own inquiry had found two team managers demanded sexual favours from team members.

Under Sri Lankan law, anyone found guilty of sexual harassment can face up to five years in prison plus an unspecified fine.

The board said both its own report and the separate inquiry by the sports ministry had highlighted the "unsatisfactory situation" involving the women's team where there was "favouritism and bias".

"Both reports have commented adversely on the failure to ensure that a female manager handles the women's cricket team," SLC said, adding that they will take appropriate action to "rectify" management issues.

Despite the sports ministry's weekend announcement, no charges have been brought against any official so far.

An independent panel was asked by the ministry last November to investigate local media allegations that unidentified players were dropped from the team for refusing to have sex with sports officials.

Sri Lanka's Children's Minister Rosy Senanayake, who is also responsible for women's issues, told reporters in Colombo on Saturday that she was closely following the case.

"It is a shameful incident," Senanayake said. "We want to put a stop to this kind of behaviour."

She said she was closely monitoring the progress of the case and wanted the perpetrators brought to justice.

Cricket is hugely popular in Sri Lanka and the women's team are regulars in major international tournaments.

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