Sri Lanka Cricket has brought in sterner laws and penalties as a measure to tackle the longstanding issues of betting and match-fixing that have plagued the game in the country for so long. 

The betting was already illegal in the Island nation but from now citizens won't be allowed to gamble on overseas contests either. 

And being found guilty of match-fixing makes an individual liable to face a jail term of up to 10 years and potential fines to the tunes of LKR 100 million (USD 555,000), while also banning people with family links to gambling businesses from sitting on the sport's local governing body.

In Sri Lanka, the ICC most famously labelled charges of corruption against former opening batsman Sanath Jayasuriya for failing to cooperate with a match-fixing probe and banned the ex-national selector for two years. 

Dilhara Lokuhettige, former Sri Lankan fast bowler, was last year suspended for corruption in a limited-overs league in 2017. 

Read Also: ICC suspends Nuwan Zoysa and Avishka Gunawardene over charges of corruption

Sanath and Lokuhettige aren't alone, former pacer Nuwan Zoysa was also charged for violating the ICC's anti-corruption code. He remains suspended for alleged involvement in match-fixing. 

Harin Fernando, the Sri Lankan sports minister, had said the sport's governance in the country from "from top to bottom" is badly affected with corruption. The ICC also had singled out Sri Lanka as the world's most corrupt cricketing nations.

Thilanga Sumathipala, the former president of the SLC, was a member of the organisation's executive committee while his family owned a gambling business until recently, although Sumathipala had denied his involvement in the family business. 

"Many tried to prevent this piece of legislation, but I am happy that it was taken up today," Fernando was quoted as saying by PTI after the law was passed unanimously by parliament on Monday (November 11)

(Inputs from PTI)