Bangladeshi-origin British citizen Tamim Rahman has been sentenced to prison and fined. Tamim Rahman, the owner of the now-defunct Dambulla Thunders franchise in the Lanka Premier League (LPL), has been found guilty of match-fixing. A Sri Lankan court on Wednesday sentenced him to four years of imprisonment, suspended for five years, and imposed a fine of 24 million Sri Lankan rupees.
Tamim, a British national of Bangladeshi descent, was arrested in May 2024 while preparing to leave Sri Lanka ahead of that year’s LPL. Following his arrest, Sri Lanka Cricket canceled the Dambulla Thunders franchise.
He was formally charged in October 2025 under Sri Lanka’s 2019 Sports-Related Crimes Prevention Act. The allegations stated that he attempted to pressure a player participating in the 2024 LPL into match-fixing.
In December 2025, Tamim’s legal counsel informed the Colombo High Court that he was willing to plead guilty to expedite the legal proceedings.
A Pakistani national, Mujib-ur-Rahman, has also been issued an arrest warrant for allegedly assisting in the scheme.
Match-fixing allegations are not new in the LPL. In the 2020 season, former Sri Lankan cricketer Sachithra Senanayake faced corruption charges for attempting to manipulate matches, though he has claimed his innocence.
