News

Sri Lankan Cricketer Accused of Rape Sees Bail Conditions Eased

Published

2 years ago

August 9, 2023

Editor

A prominent Sri Lankan cricket player, who had been stuck in Australia for over eight months, has been granted permission for domestic travel following a relaxation of his bail terms.

Danushka Gunathilaka, dressed in black pants and a heavy black jacket, made an appearance at the Sydney Downing Centre District Court on Tuesday to seek leniency regarding his bail conditions.

Gunathilaka, who has maintained his innocence, had been charged with the rape of a woman at her Sydney residence while he was in Australia participating in the T20 World Cup last year.

The cricketer was apprehended and charged in November of the previous year as he was about to return to Sri Lanka alongside his teammates. Consequently, he had been prohibited from leaving the country.

Initially granted bail on November 17 under strict conditions such as surrendering his passport and avoiding international departure points, Gunathilaka, aged 32, approached the court on Tuesday to request a revision of his bail terms. His plea was to allow him to travel within Australia on two separate occasions within the current month.

Acting Judge Graeme Henson consented to temporarily lift the restriction on approaching international departure points for four days this week and another four days at the end of the month. The judge stipulated that Gunathilaka must notify the police at least 48 hours in advance, providing details of his trip’s duration, location, and itinerary for any domestic travel.

However, the 32-year-old cricketer is still required to check in with the police three times a week, and he is limited to possessing only one mobile phone. Additionally, due to the pending allegations, he is prohibited from accessing dating sites or apps.

According to the police’s account, Gunathilaka matched with a woman on a dating app and engaged in several online conversations before meeting in person. After the meeting, they had drinks in the city before heading to the woman’s residence in Sydney’s eastern suburbs around 11 pm, as stated by the police report.

Allegedly, Gunathilaka disregarded the woman’s request to proceed slowly and instead assaulted her sexually within her residence. The police contend that the cricketer engaged in forceful intercourse during which he reportedly choked the woman on three occasions.

The woman expressed to the police that fear had immobilized her, preventing her from taking any action. She claimed that she had only consented to sexual activity with the cricket player under the condition that he use a condom. Later, she found the condom discarded on the floor next to the bed.

The court was informed that the sexual assault charge was connected to “stealing,” which involves the unauthorized removal of a condom during intercourse.

Gunathilaka is scheduled for a trial by a judge alone in September.

Source: The Australian

දූෂණය පිළිබඳ චෝදනාවට ලක්වූ ශ්‍රී ලංකා ක්‍රිකට් ක්‍රීඩකයාට ඇප කොන්දේසි ලිහිල් වේ.

මාස අටකට වැඩි කාලයක් ඕස්ට්රේලියාවේ සිරවී සිටි ප්රමුඛ ශ්රී ලංකා ක්රිකට් ක්රීඩකයෙක් ඔහුගේ ඇප අනුදර්ශන ලිහිල් කිරීමෙන් පසු ගෘහස්ථ සංචාරය සඳහා අවසර ලබා දී ඇත.

පසුගිය වසරේදී විස්සයි විස්ස ලෝක කුසලානයට සහභාගී වූ ඔහු ඕස්ට්රේලියාවෙහි සිටියදී කාන්තාවක් ස්ලොනු නිවසේ කාන්තාවක් දූෂණය කිරීම සම්බන්ධයෙන් චෝදනාවට ලක්ව තිබුණි.

ඔහුගේ කණ්ඩායමේ සාමාජිකයන් සමඟ නැවත ශ්රී ලංකාවට පැමිණී නමුත් ක්රිකට් ක්රීඩකයා පසුගිය වසරේ නොවැම්බර් මාසයේදී අත්අඩංගුවට ගෙන තිබේ. එහි ප්රතිඵලයක් වශයෙන්, ඔහුට රට හැර යාම තහනම් විය.

ඔහුගේ විදේශ ගමන් බලපත්රය යටත් කිරීම හා ජාත්යන්තර පිටත්වීමේ ස්ථානවලට යටත් වීම සහ ජාත්යන්තර පිටත්වීමේ ස්ථානවල ලකුණු 32 ක් වැනි දැඩි කොන්දේසි යටතේ මුලින් ඇප ලබා දී ඇති අතර, ඔහුගේ ඇප අනුදර්ශනවල සංශෝධනයක් ඉල්ලා සිටීම සඳහා ගුණතිලක මහතා අඟහරුවාදා පැමිණියේය. ඔහුගේ ආයාචනය නම්, වත්මන් මාසය තුළ අවස්ථා දෙකකදී ඔහුට ඕස්ට්රේලියාව තුළ ගමන් කිරීමට ඉඩ දීමයි.

මේ සතියේ දින හතරක් සහ මාසය අවසානයේ තවත් දින හතරක් සඳහා වූ ජාත්යන්තර පිටත්වීමේ ස්ථාන තාවකාලිකව ඔසවා තැබීමට වැඩබලන විනිසුරු ග්රේට හෙන්සන් ඊට එකඟ වීමට එකඟ විය. විනිසුරුවරයා නියම කළේ ගුණතිලක අවම වශයෙන් පැය 48 කට පෙරව පෙර පැය 48 කට පෙර පොලිසියට දැනුම් දිය යුතු බවයි.

කෙසේ වෙතත්, 32 හැවිරිදි ක්රිකට් ක්රීඩකයාට සතියකට තුන් වතාවක් පොලීසිය සමඟ පොලිසිය සමඟ පරීක්ෂා කිරීම අවශ්ය වන අතර, එක් ජංගම දුරකථනයක් පමණක් සන්තක වීමට ඔහු සීමා වේ. මීට අමතරව, අපේක්ෂිත චෝදනාවරුන් නිසා, ආලය අඩවි හෝ යෙදුම් වෙත ප්රවේශ වීම තහනම්ය.

ගුණතිලක හට සැප්තැම්බර් මාසයේ විනිසුරුවරයා විසින් නඩු විභාගයක් පැවැත්වීමට නියෝග කර ඇත.

News

Chinese Government Pledges Support for Sri Lanka’s Sports and Youth Development

Published

9 hours ago

March 12, 2025

Editor

Colombo: In a significant move towards strengthening sports and youth development in Sri Lanka, Chinese Ambassador Qi Zhenhong met with Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, Sunil Kumar Gamage, and Deputy Minister Eranga Gunasekara today (26) at the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.

During the meeting, Ambassador Qi Zhenhong congratulated the newly appointed ministers and reaffirmed China’s commitment to supporting Sri Lanka’s sports and youth programs. Discussions centered on enhancing bilateral cooperation and exploring actionable initiatives to uplift sports development in the country.

A key highlight of the discussions was China’s willingness to promote sports such as Tai Chi and Dragon Boat Racing in Sri Lanka. This initiative aligns with the broader vision of fostering international sports collaboration and expanding the sporting culture within the country.

This renewed partnership marks an important step in Sri Lanka’s sports development, paving the way for future investments and technical support to enhance local sporting infrastructure and training programs.

Stay tuned for more updates on this collaboration and its impact on Sri Lankan sports!

Football

Sri Lanka to Host the Prestigious 2025 SAFF Championship After 17 Years

Published

10 hours ago

March 12, 2025

Editor

Colombo: Sri Lanka has officially been granted the hosting rights for the 2025 South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship, set to take place in June 2025. The decision marks a historic moment for Sri Lankan football, as the nation last hosted the tournament in 2008 alongside the Maldives.

The SAFF Championship is widely regarded as the “World Cup of South Asia,” bringing together the best footballing nations from the region. The 2025 edition will feature seven teams:

India (Defending champions and most successful team)
Pakistan
Bangladesh
Bhutan
Maldives
Nepal
Sri Lanka (Host nation)

With the backing of home supporters, Sri Lanka will look to capitalize on this opportunity and aim for a deep run in the competition.

SAFF Championship: A Look at Past Editions and Winners

The SAFF Championship, first held in 1993, has seen 14 editions so far. India has been the most dominant team in the tournament’s history, winning a record 9 titles. The Maldives and Bangladesh have each won the tournament twice, while Sri Lanka claimed their only title in 1995, when they hosted the event in Colombo.

Here is a look at the past winners:

India – 9 titles (1993, 1997, 1999, 2005, 2009, 2011, 2015, 2021, 2023)
Maldives – 2 titles (2008, 2018)
Bangladesh – 2 titles (2003, 2023)
Sri Lanka – 1 title (1995)

Sri Lanka’s return as the host nation in 2025 gives them a golden opportunity to reclaim the championship after 30 years.

If executed well, the 2025 SAFF Championship could mark the beginning of a new era for Sri Lankan football, helping the nation rise again in South Asian football.

Can Sri Lanka make the most of this historic opportunity? The countdown to SAFF 2025 begins!

Cricket

Sri Lanka Masters Eye Glory in Masters Series – Can They Outshine India Masters?

Published

13 hours ago

March 12, 2025

Editor

Raipur, India – The Sri Lanka Masters have showcased an impressive performance in the ongoing Masters Series, finishing at the top of the points table after the group stage. With four wins in five matches, they head into the semi-finals as the team to beat. However, with India Masters in formidable form, a thrilling contest awaits cricket fans as the tournament nears its conclusion.

Sri Lanka Masters: Dominant in the Group Stage

Sri Lanka Masters have been in exceptional form, winning four out of their five matches and securing 8 points with a +1.4 net run rate (NRR). Their balanced squad, led by experienced players, has delivered consistently with both bat and ball.

Key Strengths

Batting Unit: Kumar Sangakkara has been their standout batter, scoring 222 runs at an average of 55.50 with a strike rate of 164.44. His ability to anchor innings while maintaining a high run rate makes him a key player for the semi-finals.
Bowling Attack: While Sri Lanka’s bowlers have been effective in restricting opposition teams, they will need to step up against stronger batting lineups in the knockout stage.

With their current form and experience, Sri Lanka Masters are strong contenders for the title. However, they must overcome tough competition, particularly from India Masters, to lift the trophy.

India Masters: A Formidable Challenger

India Masters have matched Sri Lanka’s performance, also winning four of their five matches with 8 points. However, their NRR of +1.036 places them in second position. Their batting and bowling units have been consistent, making them one of the most dangerous teams in the tournament.

Key Strengths

Powerful Batting Lineup: India Masters boast explosive batters like Ben Dunk (237 runs, SR 217.43) and Lendl Simmons (277 runs, SR 188.44), both of whom have been in exceptional form. Their ability to score quickly could be a major threat to Sri Lanka.
Strong Bowling Attack: Pawan Negi (7 wickets, economy 6.00) and Xavier Doherty (8 wickets) provide variety in spin, while Ravi Rampaul has been lethal with 9 wickets in just 3 matches.

Sri Lanka vs. India – A Potential Final?

Both Sri Lanka Masters and India Masters are favorites to reach the final if they overcome their respective semi-final opponents. With their balanced squads, experience, and match-winners, this could be a classic battle for the championship.

Key Factors for Sri Lanka to Win the Series:
✅ Sangakkara’s experience and ability to score big
✅ Bowlers stepping up against India’s aggressive batting lineup
✅ Capitalizing on India’s slightly weaker bowling attack

Road to the Trophy

1st Semi-Final: India Masters vs TBC – March 13
2nd Semi-Final: Sri Lanka Masters vs TBC – March 14
Final: March 16 in Raipur

With Sri Lanka Masters leading the table, their chances of winning the title remain high. However, they must be at their best to overcome the strong challenge posed by India Masters.

🏏 Will Sri Lanka Masters go all the way, or will India emerge victorious? Stay tuned for an exciting finish!