ICC bans Bangladesh cricket captain after corruption charge
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has issued a two-year ban to Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan after he accepted three charges of breaching its Anti-Corruption Code.
The ban will come into immediate effect, but one of the years will be suspended, meaning Al Hasan (pictured) will not be able to take part in any form of cricket until 29 October 2020 at the earliest.
Al Hasan admitted to the charges and agreed a sanction with the ICC in lieu of an Anti-Corruption Tribunal hearing. The ICC ruled that he breached Article 2.4.4, which relates to informing its Anti-Corruption Unit of approaches to engage in corrupt activities.
The first of the three breaches was in relation to the Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe Tri-Series in January 2018 and the 2018 Indian Premier League (IPL) club competition. Al Hasan was also found to have breached the ICC Code in relation to a second approach in respect of the Tri-Series in January 2018.
In addition, the ICC said that Al Hasan failed to disclose details of an approach in relation to an IPL 2018 match between Sunrisers Hyderabad v Kings XI Punjab on 26 April 2018.
“I am obviously extremely sad to have been banned from the game I love, but I completely accept my sanction for not reporting the approaches,” Al Hasan said in a statement. “The ICC ACU is reliant on players to play a central part in the fight against corruption and I didn’t do my duty in this instance.
“Like the majority of players and fans around the world, I want cricket to be a corruption free sport and I am looking forward to working with the ICC ACU team to support their education programme and ensure young players don’t make the same mistake I did.”
ICC general manager integrity, Alex Marshall, added: “Shakib Al Hasan is a highly experienced international cricketer. He has attended many education sessions and knows his obligations under the Code. He should have reported each of these approaches.
“Shakib has accepted his errors and cooperated fully with the investigation. He has offered to assist the Integrity Unit in future education, to help younger players to learn from his mistakes. I am happy to accept this offer.”
Image: Hasive