The Uva T20 League Fiasco: One of the most unusual events in the history of cricket
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The news of the Uva T20 League came out as a shining light for cricket lovers last year in June 2020, when the whole world came to a halt due to the coronavirus outbreak, with no cricket matches being played anywhere across the globe. This league was identified as a seven-day round-robin tournament between four teams consisting of local Sri Lankan cricketers, each led by a star Sri Lankan cricket player, namely Tillakaratne Dilshan, Farveez Maharoof, Thilan Thushara and Ajantha Mendis.
The four teams, Monaragala Hornets, Unilions Mahiyanganaya, Badulla Sea Eagles and Wellawaya Vipers, were competing in the Uva T20 League, according to sports websites reporting the tournament. The first match was played on June 29th at the Badulla Cricket Ground between Monaragala Hornets and Wellawaya Vipers, but their respective captains Dilshan and Mendis were unavailable for the toss. The game, however, went ahead as planned and was streamed live on YouTube.
Confusion arose regarding the Uva T20 League
Farveez Maharoof spoke out about the tournament on Twitter on June 28th, saying that the news is false, that no one has talked to him about it, and that he is not interested in participating in the tournament. Regardless of this refusal, the matches went forward as scheduled
It was the only live match at the moment, and a large number of people tuned in to watch the matches. The footage was a bit shaky, and the camera angles were a little awkward, but the main point was that the match was still happening.
Live scorecards were also available on cricket websites such as Sportskeeda. Wellawaya Vipers secured the high-scoring thriller with nine balls to spare, chasing down 204 runs. The outcome was all the more surprising for the few people who were present at the Badulla cricket ground on that particular day since the ground was completely empty.
However, the tournament had been canceled after the first two matches on June 29th. According to reports, the tournament was canceled after Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) revoked the tournament’s sanction. The SLC had already sanctioned the league and so the decision to cancel was unexpected.
This report turned out to be incorrect, as SLC denied any knowledge of the rumored cricket tournament in their region, which they characterized as a fantasy tournament. CEO of SLC, Ashley De Silva said that “neither SLC nor its affiliates have any knowledge or any involvement with a fantasy tournament staged by an undisclosed party under the name and title of Uva Premier League T20.”
Entire Uva T20 League revealed to be a hoax
It was later revealed that the entire tournament was a hoax, as the live matches were held near Chandigarh, India, and not in Sri Lanka. The matches were held at a ground in Sawara village, about 16 kilometers from Chandigarh. No Sri Lankan players took part in the two matches, instead, some unknown players were competing in the tournament wearing masks.
Following the news of the fraudulent tournament, the BCCI said that the organizers of the UVA Premier League T20 should be investigated by the police. The BCCI stated that the matter should be investigated by the police because no BCCI authorized player was involved, and the fake tournament was conducted for betting purposes.
Strokers Cricket Association owns the ground in Sawara village where the matches were held. The booking for the ground had been made by one of their colleagues and they had no idea who was organizing the tournament. Also, association members were not able to access the grounds and the tournament was called off the next day by police.
It was revealed that the cartel behind this fake tournament gathered a squad of 20 or 30 of the unregistered and anonymous players and gave them all Sri Lankan fake names. To add credibility to the league, fake advertisement hoardings of well-known Sri-Lankan companies were put up and a local media agency was hired to spread the news of the tournament across the globe. Adding to this, a series of fake emails were created in the name of Sri Lanka Cricket to be sent to popular sports websites. The players were seen sporting Dream 11 on their jerseys which gave rise to questions over Dream Sports.
The fake tournament was allegedly staged for betting purposes, and the betting mafia is accused of being behind it. The tournament is thought to have been organized by bookies from India and other countries. The Uva T20 League scam became one of the most unusual stories in cricketing history.
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Mohamed Azhar
(370 Articles Published)