COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, CMC- Three British women were arrested after police broke-up a hotel room party involving four West Indies cricketers including Chris Gayle yesterday, police and hotel sources have said.
Police bodyguards protecting players at the ongoing World Twenty20 arrested the three Britons at the deluxe Cinnamon Grand hotel in Colombo and handed them over to the nearby police station for further investigations.
“Ministerial Security Division (MSD) guards assigned to protect the players carried out the arrest and the three women were handed over to the Kollupitiya police station for further investigations,” police said in a statement.
Hotel sources said the women were guests of Gayle and his teammates Andre Russell, Fidel Edwards and Dwayne Smith.
The sources insisted there was no breach of security at the tightly-guarded seventh floor reserved for players and team officials.
“There was no wrongdoing on the part of the players or the women and we are surprised at the police action,” a hotel source who declined to be named told journalists.
“It is not against the law to be a guest of a player.”
The women, who were not charged, were later released on bail; a police official has been quoted as saying.
West Indies’ management and the International Cricket Council (ICC), organisers of the World Twenty20, both confirmed the hotel incident.
West Indies media manager, Philip Spooner, said the matter had been dealt with.
“As far as the West Indies team is concerned there was an incident that was handled by the police,” he told ESPNcricinfo.
“It is being reported as a Chris Gayle issue. It is not a Chris Gayle issue. The matter was dealt with by the police and it is now closed. Our focus is strictly on cricket and our next assignment is the semi-finals on Friday.”
Hotel security has been a key issue at international cricket events since then-Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer was found dead in his room during the World Cup in Jamaica in 2007.
His death was initially treated as murder before police concluded he died of natural causes.
West Indies were the second team to qualify for the semi-finals from Group 1 in the Super Eights, after beating England and getting past New Zealand in a Super Over finish.