Corruption in cricket issue has surfaced in the UAE ahead of the Indian Premier League 2020 season which will be played in Sharjah, Dubai and Abu Dhabi from Saturday, September 19.
The anti-corruption unit of the International Cricket Council has charged two players in the UAE for breaching anti-corruption rules. The duo has been suspended provisionally with immediate effect.
ICC in a Press release has confirmed that the UAE players Amir Hayat and Ashfaq Ahmed have been charged with five counts of breaching cricket’s anti-corruption rules.
The Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) had earlier suspended Ashfaq during the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier in October last year but no formal charges had been laid so far.
The charges are serious in nature as these also include allegations of seeking, accepting, offering or agreeing to accept any bribe other rewards. This translates into “fix or to contrive in any way or otherwise to improperly the result, progress or conduct of a match”. In simple parlance that means charges of match-fixing.
Both Amir and Ashfaq have been charged with the following breaches of the ICC Anti-Corruption Code:
Article 2.1.3 – Seeking, accepting, offering or agreeing to accept any bribe or other Reward to: (a) fix or to contrive in any way or otherwise to influence improperly the result, progress, conduct or any other aspect of any International Match; or (b) ensure for Betting or other corrupt purposes the occurrence of a particular incident in an International Match.
Article 2.4.2 – failing to disclose to the ACU (without unnecessary delay) the receipt of any gift, payment, hospitality or other benefits, (a) that the Participant knew or should have known was given to him/her to procure (directly or indirectly) any breach of the Anti-Corruption Code, or (b) that was made or given in circumstances that could bring the Participant or the sport of cricket into disrepute.
Article 2.4.3 – failing to disclose to the ACU (without unnecessary delay) all gifts (whether monetary or otherwise), hospitality and/or other non-contractual benefits offered to a Participant that has a value of US$750 or more, whether or not the circumstances set out in Article 2.4.2 are present, save that there shall be no obligation to disclose any (i) personal gifts, hospitality and/or other non-contractual benefits offered by or on behalf of any close friend or relative of the Participant, (ii) any food or beverage gifts or (iii) cricket hospitality gifts in connection with Matches the Participant is participating in.
Article 2.4.4 – failing to disclose to the ACU (without unnecessary delay) full details of any approaches or invitations received by the Participant to engage in Corrupt Conduct under the Anti-Corruption Code.
Article 2.4.5 – failing to disclose to the ACU full details of any facts or matters that came to his attention that may evidence Corrupt Conduct under the Code by another Participant.
The two cricketers will have 14 days from today (September 13) to respond to the charges.
The ICC has declined to make any further comment in respect of these charges at this stage.