Decided to accept ban for love of cricket: Sanath Jayasuriya

Sanath Jayasuriya was on Tuesday banned from all cricket-related activities for two years. The veteran insisted he had not engaged in any corrupt activity but chose to accept the two-year ban because of his "love" for the game

Sanath Jayasuriya was on Tuesday banned from all cricket-related activities for two years after he admitted to breaching Articles 2.4.6 and 2.4.7 of the International Cricket Council's (ICC) anti-corruption code.

Following his admissions of breaching the above-mentioned counts, Jayasuriya accepted a sanction of a two-year period of ineligibility.

The veteran insisted he had not engaged in any corrupt activity but chose to accept the two-year ban because of his "love" for the game.

"I decided to admit the said charges at the first instance for the love of the Sport of Cricket, for the greater good and to protect the integrity of the Sport of Cricket," Jayasuriya said in a statement released to the media immediately after the ICC made his ban public on Tuesday.

In his statement, Jayasuriya said: "The purported finding of the ACU stems from an alleged failure, on my part, to cooperate with the investigation carried out by the ACU by not providing a sim card and iPhone immediately on demand to the ICC ACU Officials. It is clear that there were no Corruption charges, Betting charges or Misuse of Inside Information charges levelled against me under the Code."

Jayasuriya was charged under articles 2.4.6 and 2.4.7 of ICC's code of conduct.

The Article 2.4.6 deals with "failure or refusal, without compelling justification, to cooperate with any investigation carried out by the ACU."

The Article 2.4.7 deals with "obstructing or delaying any investigation that may be carried out by the ACU, including concealing, tampering with or destroying any documentation or other information..."

"It is unfortunate that even though I provided the ICC ACU with all the information as demanded by the officials the ICC ACU thought it fit to charge me under the Code although there were no allegations of corruption, betting or misuse of inside information."

Jayasuriya in his defence said that he has always played the game with highest integrity.

"I have always put country first and the cricket loving public are the best witnesses to this aspect. I profusely thank the public of Sri Lanka and my fans for having stood by me during this difficult period".

When asked why he admitted to the charges of having destroyed the evidence as claimed by the ICC, he said: "I accepted the charges for the greater good and to protect the integrity of cricket".

(With agency inputs)