Mahela To File Action Against ITN

Vice captain of the Sri Lankan cricket team Mahela Jayawardene is considering legal action against state owned Independent Television Network (ITN) in response to commentary which implied he was guilty of match-fixing, the BBC has reported today.
The report states that a state television broadcast had suggested Jayawardene deliberately played badly for financial gain in Saturday’s cricket World Cup defeat by Pakistan. Jayawardene said his lawyer was drafting a letter to “get to the bottom” of the accusation.
The allegation had also been levelled at batsman Thilan Samaraweera.
Sri Lanka lost the game against Pakistan by 11 runs, with Jayawardene scoring two runs while Samaraweera scored one.
A commentary the next day on Sri Lankan state TV network, ITN, written by the editor of a state newspaper, Mahinda Abeysundara, had said a businessman had bet about 18,000 dollars on a Pakistan victory, and that there had therefore been what he called a “chorus to change the game”.
The commentator had then remarked: “We just think Mahela and Thilan may have changed the game”.