United Arab Emirates cricketers – batsman Ashfaq Ahmed and pace bowler Amir Hayat – have been handed an eight-year ban each for breaching the ICC anti-corruption code, the global cricketing body said on Thursday.
As stated by the ICC in a statement, the bans are backdated to 13 September 2020, when both cricketers were provisionally suspended for corrupt conduct in relation to the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier 2019 in the UAE.
“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. Their lengthy ban should serve as a warning to others,” ICC anti-corruption unit chief Alex Marshall was quoted as saying in the statement.
Both Amir and Ashfaq have been found guilty of accepting bribes to “fix or to contrive in any way or otherwise to influence improperly the result, progress, conduct or any other aspect of any international match”, the ICC further said in the statement.
The duo has been found guilty of breaching as many as five articles of the ICC anti-corruption code which also includes the charges for not revealing receiving “gift, payment, hospitality or other benefits” to the ICC’s ACU.
“The players have 14 days from 13 September to respond to the charges. The ICC will not make any further comment in respect of these charges at this stage,” the statement concluded.