AG recommends suspending Danushka Gunathilaka

Forensic audit on financial irregularities during T20 World Cup

• The Minister told Daily Mirror that he received the Attorney General’s recommendation following the report submitted by a five-member committee

By Darshana Sanjeewa Balasuriya   

The Attorney General has recommended Minister of Sports Roshan Ranasinghe to suspend Sri Lankan cricketer Danushka Gunathilaka from domestic and international cricket with immediate effect until a verdict is reached in the court case against the cricketer in Australia.   

The Minister told Daily Mirror that he received the Attorney General’s recommendation following the report submitted by a five-member committee. The report probing several allegations linked to the Sri Lankan cricket team which toured Australia to take part at the T20 World Cup was forwarded to the Attorney General last week.   
The committee chaired by retired High Court Judge Kusala Sarojani Weerawardena recommended a full-scale forensic audit on the expenditure incurred during the Sri Lankan team’s tour of Australia.   

The report covers the incident involving Danushka Gunathilaka who was arrested on charges of sexual assault, Chamika Karunaratne’s disciplinary breach, the impact of the ‘Born again’ sect on the national cricket team and matters linked to financial irregularities among other concerns.   

The Minister said that the Attorney General concurred with the committee’s recommendations.   
Accordingly, Danushka Gunathilaka will be suspended from participating in domestic and international cricket while the committee report will be forwarded to the Auditor General for a forensic audit.   

The 31-year-old is charged with four counts of sexually assaulting a woman he met on a dating app Tinder in November last year, when he was in Australia to play in the T20 World Cup.