Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Nov 7: Sri Lanka Cricket announced on Monday that the country’s cricket board’s executive committee had decided to immediately suspend national player Danushka Gunathilaka from all forms of the game and stop considering him for any selections after learning that the star batter had been detained and accused of sexual assault in Australia.
“Furthermore, Sri Lanka Cricket will take the necessary steps to promptly carry out an inquiry into the alleged offense, and, upon conclusion of the aforementioned court case in Australia, steps will be taken to penalize the said player if found guilty,” said the cricket board.
“Sri Lanka Cricket wishes to emphasize that it adopts a “zero tolerance” policy for any such conduct by a player and will provide all the required support to the Australian law enforcement authorities to carry out an impartial inquiry into the incident,” it added.
The ExCo of SLC decided to suspend national player Danushka Gunathilaka from all forms of cricket with immediate effect and will not consider him for any selections. READ 👇https://t.co/0qp6lNVEoH
— Sri Lanka Cricket 🇱🇰 (@OfficialSLC) November 7, 2022
Gunathilaka had appeared by video link in handcuffs at a Sydney court on Monday to seek bail after he was charged with four counts of sexual assault. Gunathilaka, who spoke only to confirm his identity, was shown on a screen in Downing Centre Local Court.
The case was briefly postponed by Magistrate Robert Williams before the bail request was discussed. The prosecution declared that it will work to have certain details that could be used to identify the accused victim published withheld.
Notably, police arrested and charged Gunathilaka on Sunday, hours after the national team lost to England at the World Cup.
