The United Arab Emirates (UAE) cricketers Amir Hayat and Ashfaq Ahmed have been banned by the International Cricket Council (ICC) from all form of cricket for eight years after being found guilty of breaching the ICC Anti-Corruption Code.
The ICC Anti-Corruption Tribunal had charged both the Pakistan-born cricketers on September 13, 2020, when they were provisionally handed suspensions for fixing matches during the ICC T20 World Cup Qualifiers in 2019 in the UAE, hence the ban is backdated to the day.
As per the ICC Anti-Corruption Code, Hayat and Ashfaq have been found guilty on five counts which include failure to disclose a corrupt approach, trying to influence the outcome of the match, and taking 15000 AED, as well as, accepting gifts worth more than $750 from an Indian bookie, identified as Mr ‘Y’ in the charge sheet for fixing the T20 World Cup Qualifiers fixtures in 2019.
The ICC release stated: “The bans are backdated to 13 September 2020, when they were provisionally suspended for corrupt conduct in relation to the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier 2019 in the UAE.”
Meanwhile, Alex Marshall, ICC General Manager - Integrity Unit, stated: “Both Amir and Ashfaq had played cricket at the highest level for long enough to understand the threat from match-fixers. The two UAE players attended several ICC anti-corruption education sessions and knew how to avoid becoming involved in any corrupt activity.
They failed in these obligations and let down their teammates and everyone involved in UAE Cricket, in their adopted country. Their lengthy ban should serve as a warning to others.”
The detailed ICC judgment stated: “In October 2019, the ICC ACU commenced an investigation into allegations that members of the UAE senior international team may have had dealings with a known corruption network controlled by an Indian man named [Mr. Y].”
It further added, “Steven Richardson, the ICC ACU's Coordinator Investigations, testified that the ACU had known of [Mr. Y] for some time because he had been reported as having approached a number of players (either directly or via a third party) to get them involved in corruption in cricket.
The ACU was also aware that [Mr. Y] had been involved in unsanctioned cricket tournaments which had corruption and betting links. The UAE was due to participate in the ICC World T20 Qualifiers in the UAE in October 2019 and it is alleged that the players understood that this payment of the AED 15,000 anticipated their engagement in corrupt conduct during the Qualifiers, with precisely what would be expected of them to be provided at a later date.”
The ICC concluded, “WhatsApp messages between the players suggest that the players and [Mr. Y] were trying to arrange a meeting on 7 September 2019, at which, it is to be inferred, details of what they would be asked to do in the Qualifiers would be given to them. The Players say that this meeting did not in fact take place.”
(With PTI Inputs)
