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Viral posts on social media claim that the President has issued a special directive to investigate the personal assets of national cricketers following recent poor performances.
Social Media Posts :
Social media posts are circulating a false claim that the President ordered an audit of cricketers’ assets. These posts suggest that bank accounts are being searched to identify deposits linked to match-fixing.
“🔴 President vows to “clean up” cricket 💥
Based on the questionable conduct of some Sri Lankan players in this year’s Twenty20 World Cup, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has directly intervened to eradicate corruption and match-fixing in cricket. During a special discussion held with the cricket administration officials at the Presidential Secretariat on 26th, the President officially announced that a new bill will be presented to the Parliament next week to protect the transparency of the game.
Under the new bill to be introduced, there will be no amnesty for players involved in match-fixing, and any player found guilty will be banned from cricket for life and face a minimum of four years of rigorous imprisonment. A special committee headed by the President will be appointed to streamline the investigation, and it has also been ordered to examine the bank accounts of all players who have won international cricket since 2015.
Source-: Newssecond”
This post was widely circulated through social media.
It was also published on Instagram.
We took steps to investigate the accuracy of this post.
Fact Check :
Despite their role as a co-host, Sri Lanka’s journey in the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup ended prematurely. While the team showed a strong performance during the preliminary round, a dismal Super 8 round where they failed to secure a victory prevented them from reaching the semi-finals.
This has left Sri Lankan cricket fans and former players disappointed with the current players and the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC).
Beyond on-field performance, widespread public discontent remains over long-standing allegations of corruption, lack of transparency, and political interference within Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC). Previous ICC reports cited these administrative failures as the primary reason for Sri Lanka’s recent international ban.
Furthermore, players face accusations of prioritizing lucrative private leagues, such as the LPL and IPL, over national duties.
Against this backdrop of frustration, social media posts falsely claiming a presidential audit of players’ assets gained rapid traction, as many users believed the news originated from a mainstream media outlet.
No mainstream news
As a result, we checked the mainstream media, but we could not find any such reports.
Also, as indicated by the social media posts, none of the mainstream media reported that President Anura Kumara Dissanayake held a special discussion with cricket administration officials at the Presidential Secretariat on February 26.
Newsfirst Media Manager
We checked whether the above-mentioned news was published on the official Facebook page of Sirasa Newsfirst, but no such news was published. Furthermore, since this news was not published on their news broadcast on or around February 26th, we inquired about it with a media manager, who confirmed that although it used a format similar to their template, it was false news and that they did not publish any such post.
President’s Media Division
The Presidential Media Division had not sent a press release to our media organization Factcrescendo Sri Lanka, or any other media organization stating that a special discussion was held with cricket administration officials at the Presidential Secretariat. Similarly, no such announcement had been published on the Presidential Media Division website.
Consequently, there is no truth to the reports that the President has officially informed Parliament of a new bill to be presented next week aimed at preserving the transparency of the game and auditing players’ bank accounts. Furthermore, claims that the President has held discussions with cricket administration officials regarding the seizure of player financial records are entirely false.
Ministry of Sports
The Media Secretary of the Ministry of Sports stated that this is false news. She said that the information that a new sports law is to be introduced is also false.
Sri Lanka Cricket
Sri Lanka Cricket Media Manager Prasanna Rodrigue also confirmed the news is false when we inquired about it.
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Conclusion:
Our investigation shows that the reports claiming that the President has ordered an asset audit of all players and a new bill to search bank accounts for match-fixing money are false. The Presidential Media Division, the Ministry of Sports, and Sri Lanka Cricket confirm that no such decision has been taken.
Title:Has the President ordered an investigation into cricketers’ assets?
Fact Check By: Fact Crescendo TeamResult: False
