The International Cricket Council (ICC) has banned Bangladesh player Shohaly Akhter for five years after she admitted to fixing matches.
Akhter was found to have breached several provisions of the ICC Anti-Corruption Code. As such, she will serve a five-year ban from cricket, with this covering any form of participation in the sport.
The ICC, which published its decision yesterday (11 February), did not say how many matches were impacted. It did, however, confirm that the corruption case relates to the Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 in South Africa. Akhter did not play in the tournament.
Five breaches of cricket fixing rules
In total, the 36-year-old bowler was found guilty of five breaches of the Anti-Corruption Code. The first is Article 2.1.3, relating to fixing or in any way influencing an international match by deliberately underperforming.
Akhter also admitted to breaching Article 2.1.3, in reference to seeking, accepting or offering a bribe or other reward to influence a match. This can be for a betting or another corrupt purpose.
The third breach is Article 2.1.4, when a player solicits, induces, entices, instructs, persuades, encourages or intentionally facilitates a participant to take part in fixing activities.
The ICC also flagged Article 2.4.4. This is when a player fails to disclose detail of approaches or invitation to engage in corrupt behaviour. Cricket players are required to report any such incident to the ICC’s Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU).
Finally, Akhter was ruled to have breached Article 2.4.7 of the Code. This refers to a player obstructing or delaying an ACU corruption investigation. The ICC said that this may include concealing, tampering with or destroying any relevant evidence.
Akhter’s five-year ban from cricket came into effect on 10 February. This means she will not be eligible again until February 2030.
Corruption and fixing remains an issue in global sport
Despite ongoing efforts, corruption and fixing continue to cause issues across sport.
This week, the International Tennis Integrity Agency handed a provisional suspension to Thai player Jatuporn Na Lamphun for potential breaches of the Tennis Anti-Corruption Programme. This follows suspensions for six other players announced last week.
Also this month, the Bolivian Football Federation confirmed it is investigating five Club Real Santa Cruz players over suspected match-fixing last year. Ricardo Suárez, Oscar Ribera, Luis Ruono, Samuel Pozo and Brian López, as well as club officials, face investigation.
Meanwhile, in December, the UK’s Darts Regulation Authority banned two players, Leighton Bennett and Billy Warriner, for match-fixing. Also in the UK, snooker player Mark King was recently handed a five-year suspension from the sport over match-fixing.
