ICC bans UAE cricketer Qadeer for five years over graft
Qadeer has been banned for five years after admitting six counts of corruption back in 2019.
DUBAI (AFP) - United Arab Emirates cricket star Qadeer Ahmed Khan has been banned from all cricket for five years after admitting six counts of corruption back in 2019, the ICC said Wednesday.
Right-arm pace bowler Qadeer was charged with corruption by the International Cricket Council along with captain Mohammed Naveed and batsman Shaiman Anwar in October 2019.
A fourth individual, Mehardeep Chhayakar, was charged for refusing to cooperate with the ICC.
Qadeer was charged with breaches of the ICC s code relating principally to the series against Zimbabwe in April 2019 and the Netherlands in August the same year.
The charges also related to passing insider information to Chhayakar in the knowledge that "the information might be used for betting purposes".
"(Qadeer s) period of ineligibility has been backdated to 16 October 2019, when he was provisionally suspended," the ICC said in a statement announcing the ban.
"He has accepted he did wrong and requested an agreed sanction in place of a Tribunal.
"His five-year period of ineligibility is a reflection of the seriousness of his breaches and the number of charges. He has accepted responsibility for his actions and expressed regret for those he has let down."
The ICC also announced that Chhayakar, who played domestic cricket in the emirate of Ajman, was being charged with six counts of breaching its anti-corruption code.
"The ICC laid the charges on its own behalf as well as on behalf of Cricket Canada," the statement said.
"Chhayakar has 14 days from April 15, 2021 to respond to the charges."
