The International Cricket Council (ICC) following its strict protocol against corruption and fixing released a statement enforcing an 8-year ban on two cricketers from the UAE. The two were found guilty and charged for match-fixing.
On Thursday evening the ICC made public the decision to ban the two UAE cricketers involved in trying to fix the T20 World Cup qualifying matches. The two banned players Amir Hayat and Ashfaq Ahmed, both are Pakistan-born cricketers. They were charged for being in contact with an Indian bookie, to fix the qualifying round matches held in their country.
The statement released by the ICC stated the bans are backdated to last year during the qualifiers.
The official statement read, “The bans are backdated to September 2020, when they were provisionally suspended for corrupt conduct in relation to the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier 2019 in UAE.”
According to the charge sheet, both cricketers have been found guilty of taking 15,000 AED (UAE Dirham) from an Indian bookie whose name is yet to be revealed by the ICC. The anti-corruption unit charged them on grounds of not disclosing a corrupt approach, trying to improperly influence the game’s outcome and receiving gifts of more than 750 USD. All of this after having attended multiple anti-corruption sessions conducted by the authorities.
Alex Marshall, ICC General Manager also expressed his sadness and commented, “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 sessions and knew how to avoid becoming involved in any corrupt activity. Their lengthy ban should serve as a warning to others.”
It is to be noted that the UAE qualified to the final qualifying rounds for the T20 World Cup and will now contest to feature in the marquee event. The tournament which was originally scheduled to be played in India has now been moved to the UAE and Oman. Therefore, as a co-host, this is a major opportunity for UAE cricket to leave its mark on the cricketing world and compete with the best of the best. The tournament is scheduled to be played between 17th October and 14th November 2021.