adminLONDON. — Afghanistan wicketkeeper-batsman Shafiqullah Shafaq was banned from all forms of cricket for six years on Sunday after accepting charges relating to match-fixing.
The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) said the 30-year-old had fixed or tried to fix matches in inaugural Afghanistan Premier League T20 in 2018 and in the 2019 Bangladesh Premier League.
“Shafaq has been charged for breaches of the anti-corruption code which relates to fixing or contriving in any way or otherwise influencing improperly, or being a party to any agreement,” the ACB announced in a statement.
It added: “Shafaq was also charged for seeking, accepting, offering or agreeing to accept any bribe or other reward to fix or to contrive in any way or otherwise to influence improperly the result, progress, conduct or any other aspect of any domestic match.”
Match fixing has rocked international cricket in the last two decades with life bans for the late South African skipper Hansie Cronje, Indian captain Mohammad Azharuddin and Pakistan’s Salim Malik.
But this is the first case involving a player from Afghanistan since the country had a fairytale rise in international cricket in 2009.
ACB’s senior anti-corruption manager, Sayed Anwar Shah Quraishi said. — AFP.
Online Reporter